Chapter 54: Crushing the Vanguard at Its Sharpest, Holding Back the Tide at Its Most Perilous

Chapter 54: Crushing the Vanguard at Its Sharpest, Holding Back the Tide at Its Most Perilous

Beneath the gloomy sky, the battle had ended, and the sharp alarms of the floating warship gradually ceased. Now, only the hum of the mana core operating at full capacity echoed amidst the torrential rain and howling wind, while flashing searchlights swept back and forth through the clouds.

The black dragon had been wounded and retreated, and the mindless frenzied dragons that followed it had also fled in panic along with their leader. They abandoned the scattered ashes and wreckage in the air, hastily diving into the thick clouds to evade human pursuit, not caring whether the clouds they plunged into were rain clouds or thunderclouds.

Onboard the floating warship *Gale*, maintenance personnel responsible for repairing mana machinery hurriedly shuttled through the central area of the vessel. Although this battle was not the warship's first engagement, it was the first time it had faced so many flying dragons, and also the first time the core had operated at full load. Such valuable combat data needed to be collected as quickly as possible and then sent to the Empire.

In the command room, the captain of the *Gale*, a middle-aged man with graying temples, sat in his large chair, his face dark as he listened to the reports from his subordinates—roughly covering how many frenzied dragons had been killed, how much energy had been consumed, whether the remaining supplies were sufficient, and how far they still were from the Far Sea Holy Mountain—matters of this sort.

Normally, these would have been excellent news. On any other day, the captain would have been elated. But today, he had no interest whatsoever. Glancing at a subordinate who was still rambling on with useless nonsense, the middle-aged captain said in a cold tone, "I don't want to hear this useless crap—where is the Count now?"

His mood was indeed somewhat poor. First, there was the appearance of [Death Smoke] Grandi earlier, who had nearly killed them all silently inside the warship. That powerful cloud of negative energy could easily bypass the tough armor, seep through various gaps, or even cross space directly to erode their life force bit by bit. Against Gold-rank and below, a floating warship was indeed a great killer, but against an Ultimate-rank expert, it was little better than a steel coffin.

As a human, no one would feel happy about their own fragility and helplessness.

Noticing the captain's current mood, an observer monitoring the detection array immediately replied, "The Count returned to the deck two minutes ago and has now reached his quarters."

"...Then, continue heading toward the Holy Mountain." Taking a deep breath, the middle-aged captain looked at the distant horizon, where a holy radiance was gradually brightening, and quietly instructed his subordinates, "They've already come to meet us. Prepare yourselves."

"Yes, sir!"

At the other end of the *Gale*, in Joshua's quarters.

With a somewhat hurried sound of footsteps, the door was roughly pushed open. As the serious-faced warrior entered, the spacious bedroom was filled with a heavy atmosphere.

The massive steel elemental, Chu Hao, stood at the doorway due to its size, not entering. Hei, who had been resting in the room, looked up with some confusion at his master, whose mood was clearly off.

—Had something unexpected happened during the battle?

The half-dragon speculated inwardly, but immediately dismissed the idea. It was completely impossible.

It was just a few flying dragons. If not for his fear of heights and the thin fire element in the high altitude, he alone could have ensured the safety of the floating warship. After all, he had fought his way through the battlefield between the Ilgena World and the stone demons. Although the swarm of frenzied dragons looked imposing, how could their numbers compare to the endless tide of the Chaos army?

Ignoring the half-dragon's idle guesses, the silver-white greatsword in Joshua's right hand glowed with magical light. Amidst surging elemental waves, the panicked silver-haired girl appeared before the warrior.

After transforming into human form, Ying quickly took the black battle-axe from the warrior's hand. Without hesitation, she reached out and touched the blade, then immediately let out a soft cry of pain: "Hot, hot, hot—so hot!"

In an instant, the silver-haired girl's fair palm turned bright red. As a psionic body formed from mana, this meant the temperature on the blade was even higher than expected. Thinking this over, Ying didn't know what to say and could only look at her master with worried eyes.

"...It can't take human form yet. The situation is a bit serious."

After a moment of silence, Joshua stared at the black battle-axe in the girl's hand and said solemnly, "Let me try first."

With that, he reached out and pressed his hand against the still-blazing surface of the giant axe.

The true form of a Divine Mechanism was these weapons. Ying was the silver-white greatsword, and Lin was this black battle-axe. Their human forms were merely constructs created for convenience in communication and travel, since carrying a man-sized greatsword or battle-axe was somewhat difficult, while two humans could walk together easily.

As weapons specially crafted to counter the minions of the Plague Evil God, Divine Mechanisms were tougher than most equipment in this world. Although they had no special abilities, their ability to cut through steel and iron and their indestructibility alone made them divine weapons. Moreover, they possessed self-awareness and could amplify the power of their blood-contract master. Even legendary-grade weapons might not surpass them.

But even this toughness had its limits.

"It's fine... nothing serious."

Using his battle qi to carefully probe the interior of the black battle-axe, Joshua tried to communicate with Lin's spiritual world and let out a sigh of relief. "It's just a bit overloaded. Lin couldn't handle it and passed out."

The structure of the black Divine Mechanism was not damaged. Although the blade was covered with residual battle qi from him, bringing extremely high heat, it had not yet reached the true limit of the Divine Mechanism.

"The heat on the blade is a bit unusual, but it's still within the Divine Mechanism's tolerance. It's just that during the battle, my method of channeling battle qi was too rough, and I forgot to consider Lin's condition."

Repeating his conclusion to Ying, the warrior's expression turned somewhat awkward and helpless. A sense of absurd irony arose in his heart.

—A Divine Mechanism had been knocked unconscious by his power.

In the past, the heads of the Radcliffe Family who wielded Divine Mechanisms could only use as much of the blood contract's power as their talent allowed. Being able to bear a Divine Mechanism and use it freely in battle was already considered excellent talent. For example, his long-dead father, Beluo de Radcliffe, had only been able to easily use the Divine Mechanism transformed from the old steward 'Fan' to make a name for himself in the Imperial Capital, leaving a deep impression on His Majesty the Emperor.

But for him, he could use two at once with ease, and even overload them in return.

This was partly because the Radcliffe Family had never produced an Ultimate-rank expert before, so the design hadn't accounted for it, but it also fully demonstrated Joshua's uniqueness and strength.

"Earlier, Lin's aura suddenly disappeared after the battle. It really startled me."

Now that he confirmed the black-haired boy had only fainted, Joshua's expression returned to normal. He sat on a chair in his room and shook his head at Ying, who was sitting on the bed, still somewhat worried. "I thought something had gone wrong. I didn't even pursue Grandi and let him escape easily."

As he said this, Joshua's tone turned cold and harsh. He gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I've memorized his aura."

Clearly, the warrior had completely transferred the depression he'd felt during this period of worry and fear onto Grandi. In his mind, that damned black dragon was already a corpse, destined to suffer the pain of having its tendons pulled and skin flayed.

"Mm... I understand, Master."

Beside him, Ying was absentmindedly holding Lin's true form. After hearing Joshua's words, her expression did relax somewhat. Since her younger brother was fine, the problem wasn't serious. But even so, her mood didn't lift. Even the long-awaited chance to fight alongside her master couldn't make the girl happy.

Hei slowly approached the somewhat gloomy silver-haired girl. He thought for a moment, then stuck out his tongue and licked Ying's face. The girl didn't react at first, but after the half-dragon licked her a second time, her expression gradually shifted from gloom to indignation: "Hei! How many times have I told you, don't lick me!"

Ying had a bit of a cleanliness habit. It wasn't that she was overly obsessed with being clean; she just didn't like foreign substances on her body, especially something wet like saliva. So every time Hei licked her, the girl would get very angry. The half-dragon never learned his lesson, seemingly treating bullying the Divine Mechanism girl as a daily amusement.

But this time, Hei had done it deliberately to lift Ying's spirits a little.

"..." Joshua rubbed his chin. Although his heart was still heavy, watching this scene, he couldn't help but smile silently.

Hei's intelligence was growing higher and higher. It wasn't just approaching human level; it was already like a human, capable of thinking, experiencing emotions, and trying to encourage friends and help them out of trouble. It just wasn't obvious usually, limited by its size and inability to interact easily with others.

The Shape-Shifting Pendant was no longer enough. Perhaps the half-dragon needed some more precious treasures or magic to integrate into Joshua's life.

But just as he was watching Hei and Ying playfully tussling on the bed, the warrior's expression suddenly froze. He blinked, scanned the surroundings, then silently left his room and stepped into the corridor outside.

The steel elemental Chu Hao, waiting at the door, saw its master's figure and immediately let out a buzzing response. Joshua nodded slightly at it, signaling it to be quiet, then raised his right hand. The fluctuation of battle qi spread, suppressing all detection arrays in the corridor.

At the same time, a point of light condensed from the void, forming an ancient and sacred rune. Then, centered on this rune, infinite holy light spread, coalescing into a hazy humanoid figure of light.

The figure's face quickly solidified, and a white-haired, golden-eyed old man appeared before the warrior. He looked at Joshua, nodded slightly, and said softly, "Joshua van Radcliffe."

"Greetings."

"Greetings, Your Holiness the Pope."

Saluting the seemingly kind old man bluntly, Joshua didn't bother with pleasantries or small talk. He asked directly, "Why have you come? I'll be arriving at the Holy Mountain soon. We could have met then. Why use a holy light avatar to come secretly now and ask me to shield the surroundings?"

Earlier in the room, the warrior had received a message from the Pope, saying he wanted to discuss something with Joshua and avoid others as much as possible.

Although it was a bit strange, Joshua had no reason to refuse. But he needed an explanation.

"Young man, your progress in strength has exceeded my imagination."

Pope Eagle didn't immediately answer the warrior's question. Instead, he first examined Joshua's body, then nodded with a hint of gratified smile. "Wielding the authority of a Sage and carrying out the cause of justice—your path should indeed be smooth. But even so, this speed is a bit faster than I imagined."

At this moment, the old Pope's avatar was many times more solid than the one Joshua had seen in the Northern Lands. If he hadn't seen it formed from holy light bit by bit, the warrior wouldn't have been able to distinguish the person before him from a real human based on appearance alone.

In response to Pope Eagle's emotional sigh, Joshua shrugged and didn't answer. The reason his strength had grown so rapidly was partly due to the system and partly because he trained diligently every day. After all, this was a real world, without endless dungeons and wild monsters. If not for the Chaos armies in the Carlis and Ilgena worlds, Joshua's strength wouldn't have progressed so quickly.

At this point, the old Pope began to answer the warrior's question: "Israel has informed all the forces along your route. Otherwise, this new floating warship couldn't have passed through the airspace of various countries so easily. Long before you arrived in the Far South, the Nake Fortress had notified the Holy See. And before you engaged the frenzied dragons, the archbishops and I had already detected your traces."

Joshua fully believed this. After all, this was the vicinity of the Holy Mountain. Such a large floating warship couldn't have gone unnoticed. The reason they hadn't come to meet them earlier was probably to see how the *Gale* performed in battle.

Judging by Pope Eagle's expression, he seemed quite satisfied.

"This warship may not be able to withstand an Ultimate-rank dragon lord or a legendary dragon, but it can effectively suppress the endless horde of frenzied dragons. It is indeed a sharp tool for wartime."

After expressing some official gratitude for the Empire's support, the old Pope said in a calm tone, "Joshua, the reason I asked you to shield the surroundings is that the following matter cannot be known to others."

"The matter you specifically invited me to help with?"

Nodding slightly, Joshua had already mentally prepared himself. He said seriously, "Speak frankly, Your Holiness. Since I've come, I will keep my promise and help you complete it. Do you want me to go and intercept the frenzied dragon army and kill their leader?"

"No." Hearing the warrior's words, the old Pope shook his head slightly. "Defending the Holy Mountain is something we and this floating warship of yours can handle. As long as we can ensure the frenzied dragons can't break through the divine spell arrays, the presence or absence of one Ultimate-rank doesn't matter much."

"Are you sure?" Joshua raised an eyebrow slightly, somewhat surprised. "You really don't need me? Although I'm young, I can guarantee that as an Ultimate-rank expert, my strength is definitely qualified. With my addition, the Holy Mountain's defense will be as solid as iron."

"I believe you, Joshua." Replying with an exceptionally firm tone, Pope Eagle seemed to have even more confidence in the warrior than Joshua himself. "Your ability to drive back [Death Smoke] Grandi head-on proves that your strength is formidable even among the Ultimate-rank. You alone can block an entire legion of frenzied dragons. That is beyond doubt."

"But precisely because I believe in you, I have an even more important task to entrust to you."

At this point, Eagle paused briefly, then said in a low, solemn voice, "With me at the Holy Mountain confronting those few legendary dragons, the Great Temple of the Church of the Seven Gods will not fall. But on the side of the Abyss of Anos, I have an extremely bad premonition."

The old Pope finally revealed his purpose. His golden eyes flickered with divine radiance, as if they could pierce through the mists of history and glimpse a corner of the future. Eagle said in an extremely solemn tone to the equally serious Joshua, "There is an abyssal rift there. The Five-Colored Dragon Clan has clearly made a deal with the Plague Evil God and the Abyss. I fear they will attempt to use that rift as a starting point to temporarily open an Abyssal Gate and bring out their reinforcements from the Abyss!"

As he spoke, his foresight seemed not yet complete. The old Pope narrowed his eyes slightly and continued in a deep voice, "Moreover, I can see that in a few decades, this place will become one of the sources of calamity for this world. If we don't uproot it now, it will become a malignant tumor lodged in the Mycroft World, causing harm for a thousand years."

"...Exactly right."

Nodding slowly, Joshua, after hearing Pope Eagle's speculation, decisively agreed, "Indeed."

He agreed so readily because the development of his previous life matched exactly what the old Pope had guessed—the Abyss of Anos becoming the most terrifying Sea Abyss Eye among the three great Abyssal Gates in later ages was likely due to the fallen Five-Colored Dragon Clan doing something there during the Dragon Calamity. Otherwise, an ordinary spatial rift could never have developed to that extent.

"So, Your Holiness, you want me to go to the Abyss of Anos, find that abyssal rift, and destroy it?"

Saying this in a calm tone, Joshua clenched his fist and promised without hesitation, "No problem."

He didn't need to make any shocking vows, because the warrior's words were a promise. And once a promise was made, it would definitely be fulfilled.

"Yes, but you won't be alone."

Nodding slightly, Eagle smiled gently. "Through the oracles of the Seven Gods, I roughly know the location of the abyssal rift. It lies in the deepest great maelstrom of the Abyss of Anos, perhaps deep beneath the sea. You might not find it alone, so Captain Robzek, Knight Loranda, High Sister Saya, and other experts I've invited will search for the abyssal rift with you. You and Robzek, as the strongest among them, will be the leaders. They will follow your orders."

At this point, the old Pope shifted his gaze from Joshua and looked at the silent steel elemental Chu Hao beside him. A peculiar light flashed in his eyes, but then he noticed the situation in the room and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Joshua, it seems your weapon has some issues."

Eagle said softly, his tone carrying a hint of concern. "Do you need help?"

As part of their exchange, he naturally knew the significance of a Divine Mechanism to its contractor. They were the closest relatives and companions. He was worried this might have some negative impact on Joshua's condition. "If you're willing to trust the Church's technology, you can temporarily leave him with me for treatment."

This Pope said somewhat humorously, "In the name of Holy Light, absolutely no side effects."

"...Thank you."

Joshua expressed his gratitude for Eagle's goodwill, but he shook his head seriously. "No need... Actually, I have a better method."

As he said this, the warrior fell silent for a moment, and the old Pope waited quietly.

Then, Joshua took a deep breath, frowned, and made a decision.

"If possible, I'd like to ask you for a favor."

Joshua stared into the old man's golden eyes and said in an extremely earnest tone, "I hope you can take Ying and Lin to the Holy Mountain and strengthen them to a level suitable for my power. Perhaps this is a bit abrupt, but I hope you can take good care of them at the Holy Mountain."

"No, it's not abrupt. I understand your feelings." Shaking his head slightly, Eagle waved his hand. He gave the warrior a deep look, his expression somewhat peculiar. "This is not troublesome. For the Church, taking care of two Divine Mechanisms is no big deal. But, Joshua..."

At this point, the old Pope's tone became meaningful. "This way, you'll have no weapons. The Church's power can indeed strengthen your Divine Mechanisms, but it definitely won't keep up with the time you need to go to the Abyss of Anos. Judging by your expression, you don't seem to intend to borrow a sacred artifact from the Holy Mountain to fight."

He said playfully, "—Without weapons, do you still dare to go to the Abyss of Anos? That place is an eternal storm zone. Amidst the whirlpools and giant waves, there are even sea monsters hundreds of meters in size. The journey is extremely difficult. Even fully armed, you might not reach the target easily, let alone empty-handed."

"Haha, Your Holiness."

After hearing Eagle agree to his request, Joshua's expression relaxed considerably. In response to the old Pope's question, he simply laughed lightly and said fearlessly, "It's precisely because of the difficulties and dangers that I must go. In your view, even I find it difficult—so for others, wouldn't it be even more troublesome?"

"Crushing the vanguard at its sharpest, holding back the tide at its most perilous—that's why I'm standing here."

"And besides."

A look of relief appeared on his face. The warrior clenched his fists, a fierce cold light flashing in his eyes. "Occasionally fighting without weapons is also a challenge and a pleasure."