Chapter 11: Heartwood of the Life Tree
There was no time to think about anything else. When Joshua saw that divine sword—the one that had once appeared on the Abyss battlefield and swept away an entire legion of Blazing Blade Demons with a single strike—the attack was already unavoidable.
The reason he could not dodge was not some matter of causality or fate, nor any locking of aura or intent. The attack range of the Ashen Earth Longsword was simply too vast. Before the opponent had finished gathering the energy flow, radiant as a solar corona, the warrior was utterly unable to leave the scope of its aim.
After all, this was the "Earth Divine Sword," reputed to be capable of reshaping the land's surface and reducing towering mountains to plains of ash!
When its blade tip aligned with Joshua, energy coalesced, and space itself began to tremble. Strange phantasms manifested across the sky above the western part of the Holy Mountain—a burning earth, erupting volcanoes, fields covered in molten lava. Visions brimming with the primordial, untamed aura of the world's dawn flickered past in an instant, turning the air scorching hot as countless sparks rained down like falling stars.
A terrifying pressure radiated outward in all directions. Countless wyverns wailed as they plummeted from the sky. Even the other great dragons, who were locked in battle with the Ultimate-rank clergy, could not help but shiver. The paladins and priests were no different. As if by unspoken agreement, they all ceased their attacks and turned their gazes toward that plain, unadorned longsword suspended in midair.
Eveon's face was pale. He could feel his mana, his life force, his very bloodline and soul being endlessly drained by that fearsome blade. Had he been in his prime, full-strength dragon form, he might have merely fallen gravely ill. But now, the Red Dragon could smell death drawing near.
Yet what of it—
The savagery lurking deep within his bloodline was ignited. Eveon's eyes blazed with a golden-red fire. Without a moment's hesitation, the Red Dragon tore apart his own soul and mana, mixing them together and pouring them into the longsword in his hand, no longer caring for his own life.
Death was never frightening. What was frightening was living without value. A Red Dragon's life was meant to be like fire, like a volcano—its final brilliance erupting in a cataclysmic blaze.
He wanted that human to die before him!
"Joshua, return to nothingness with me—"
The Red Dragon's final roar was abruptly cut short. His humanoid form dissolved into a tide of magical light, reverting to his scarred, massive dragon body. That crimson dragon form rapidly turned gray and white, then scattered into dust across the sky. Eveon, who had burned everything away, vanished completely from this world.
And the Ashen Earth Longsword hovered in midair, its tip gleaming.
Under the threat of life and death, Joshua wasted no words. He gathered all his battle qi and spirit into the center of his chest. He knew this was a moment of survival or annihilation. If he could not withstand this strike, he would share the same fate as the Red Dragon—body and soul obliterated.
*Thump!*
His heart pulsed like thunder. All the latent power within his body erupted in an instant. The warrior's chest swelled rapidly as he raised his arms, crossing them in an X-shape above his head, and then—
*Boom!!!*
A pillar of blazing light, as if born from the very core of the earth, shot straight up from the Holy Mountain. It pierced the clouds, tore through the sky, and even the barrier of the world itself seemed to tremble. The terrifying shockwave swept across the entire battlefield, forcing even the Ultimate-rank clergy to raise their defenses. The great dragons, caught off guard, were sent tumbling through the air.
When the light pillar finally dissipated, a deep, perfectly circular crater had been carved into the Holy Mountain's western slope. At its center lay Joshua, his body charred black like a piece of coal, barely recognizable as human.
But he was still alive.
"Protect him!"
A shout rang out from among the clergy. The Ultimate-rank paladins and priests immediately formed a defensive formation around the fallen warrior. The great dragons, having recovered from the shockwave, roared in fury and launched another wave of attacks. But this time, their target was no longer the defenseless land—it was the warrior himself.
The dragons' attacks were indeed devastating, capable of leveling mountains. Yet under the layered defenses of resonant holy light, they could only create ripples across the surface. As the holy light shielding the warrior entered the central zone of the Holy Mountain, the dragons, no matter how unwilling, could only cease their attacks in frustration.
But the warrior's condition was dire.
His thunderous heartbeat grew faint. His fiery thoughts were cooling. His spirit felt as if it were plunging into an abyss, with darkness pressing in rapidly. Every shred of flesh and blood in his body, except for his heart and brain, had been completely scorched away. Such an injury would take even the Azure Orb hours to regenerate from scratch—to regrow the basic flesh needed to sustain life. And right now, Joshua was short those very hours.
He would not live another five minutes.
Carried into the most solemn hall within the underground fortress of the Holy Mountain, Joshua was placed upon a stone slab at the center of the temple. Around him stood more than four Ultimate-rank High Priests, channeling streams of healing holy light into the warrior's body, urging his flesh to regenerate. But with not a single shred of living tissue left inside him, the surging holy light could only barely sustain his flickering life force.
At the center of this ancient, majestic underground hall, the warrior's body—blackened like charcoal—shone under the infusion of holy light like a brilliant black gem. Residual heat escaped from it, forming patterns of scattered embers. The sight was dazzling, carrying a tragic beauty, yet it held no trace of life.
"This won't work!"
In the center of the square, solemn hall, the head of the White Rose Abbey, High Sister Besana, frowned deeply. The kindly old woman's voice carried a note of urgency: "Holy light can regenerate flesh and restore life, but only if the recipient still has an intact body and does not resist. Lord Radcliffe has only his heart still active—but that is his energy core. Even if he allows it, we cannot channel holy light into it!"
"What we need now is pure life energy. Holy light alone is not enough!"
Another Ultimate-rank clergy member, Priest Garcia—who had been injured earlier during the legendary dragon's surprise attack—responded immediately. This old man with dwarven blood kept his calm, his mind sharp: "A Heart of the Terror Turtle, or perhaps..."
"Lady Nature Mentor, this warrior is the key to finding the Father of Nature."
Suddenly, from behind the assembled Ultimate-rank experts, a somewhat ethereal old voice rang out.
Loranda, who had been observing from the sidelines, turned to look, and his eyes widened: "Godfather... Your Holiness the Pope?!"
By the walls of the hall, before the exquisite murals and reliefs, two hazy figures seemed to coalesce from the distant reaches. The powerful energy radiating from them illuminated even the vaulted ceiling.
Pope Igor's body at this moment was composed of a shifting, uncertain mist of holy light. He appeared to have merely projected a fraction of his consciousness here. Facing the shocked gazes of the crowd, he simply smiled faintly, then silently vanished. Beside him stood a beautiful elven lady, formed from green natural energy.
She wore garments woven from grass and leaves, and a crown of verdant oak leaves adorned her head. After Pope Igor's holy light projection disappeared, she walked toward where Joshua lay. All the Ultimate-rank experts instinctively stepped back, respectfully making way for her.
For she was the leader of the elven Archdruids, the mentor of the natural path, and one of the leaders of all elves in this world.
"To think he's still alive, even like this..."
Approaching the warrior and seeing Joshua's current state, the Nature Mentor could not help but let out a soft sigh. She shook her head and smiled wryly: "Igor used a single sentence to summon me here to deal with the Five-Colored Dragons, and now he wants me to save someone..."
"Very well. If you truly are, as he said, the key to finding the Father..."
Her muttering ended there. The elven lady produced from somewhere a softly glowing green orb. At its center floated a small, translucent, crystalline substance. It resembled crystal, yet its texture was less rigid than ore, softer and more supple, exuding an overwhelmingly dense aura of life.
"The heartwood of the Life Tree!"
Exclamations of awe arose from those present. But the Nature Mentor was unaffected by the surprise. She stepped before the warrior, and without a moment's hesitation, pressed the heartwood against Joshua's chest.
A green light flickered.
A heavy heartbeat resounded once more throughout the entire hall.