Chapter 29: This Is Probably the Best News
Of course, Joshua had no interest in knowing what the other party intended to do. With a flick of his finger, a rapidly surging current of air knocked out the Gold-rank female priestess, layers of force churning through her brain and plunging her into a deep concussion.
"Black, keep an eye on this one. If she makes any suspicious moves, blast her with a dragon's breath."
After a moment's thought, the warrior changed his words: "No, I still have some questions to ask... So if she tries to kill herself, just knock her out."
"Understood, master!" the Black Dragon girl replied crisply. She looked at the half-skull face of the unconscious Gold-rank female priestess on the ground, her expression full of curiosity: "So, should I blast her with a dragon's breath, or knock her out?"
"Either works, depending on the situation."
Saying this casually, the warrior walked toward the mountainside. As he passed a large, protruding snow mound, he gave it a deliberate glance, and the mound immediately began to tremble violently, sending snow flying.
"Since you didn't do anything," Joshua said with a slight nod, "I'll let you off this time. Go back quickly."
The giant beast in the snow mound, of course, felt an immense relief. With a rumbling roar, the armored mountain dragon, which had left the entire cult team helpless, directly burrowed into the earth and fled in haste underground.
Arriving at the spot where Ivan had been buried by the avalanche, the warrior pointed a finger, and an invisible stream of high-temperature air melted a large hole in the snow, revealing the hunter boy hiding in a crevice of rock more than ten meters below. With another lift of his hand, a surge of life energy lifted the boy and placed him on the snow.
Ivan was currently unconscious. Because he had hidden in the corner of a rock crevice, the boy hadn't been directly hit by the avalanche, but the massive shockwaves and aftershocks were enough to knock out and severely injure a Black Iron-rank mage. At this moment, his internal organs had varying degrees of injury. Without timely treatment, it could easily lead to serious internal damage.
But Joshua was here, and he wouldn't let anything happen to his student. The warrior channeled the pure life energy from the Azure Orb, finely adjusting it to a level Ivan could accept. The next moment, the energy surged into the boy's body.
In less than three seconds, most of Ivan's injuries had healed. The reason he wasn't fully recovered was simply that he didn't have Joshua's robust physique; too rapid healing would only be counterproductive.
"There are three more at the foot of the mountain."
Looking toward the other side of the mountain base, Joshua muttered to himself. The next instant, he appeared at the foot of the mountain as if teleporting, using the same method to rescue Amira and the other two buried beneath the snow. After healing their injuries, the warrior brought them back to the mountainside and placed them next to Ivan.
Only then did Joshua begin to think about why cultists had appeared in the Extreme North Icefield.
"Although there aren't many patrols around the border, it's impossible to reach the Extreme North Icefield unnoticed..."
Rubbing his chin, Joshua scanned the snowfield. Beneath this thick layer of snow, over a dozen cultists lay unconscious. While some were gradually waking up, most were slowly dying from the severe cold. The warrior made no move to help, instead waiting for them to crawl out on their own.
Although Silver-rank warriors couldn't withstand natural disasters, their resistance was indeed much stronger than ordinary people's. In less than ten minutes, five physically robust cultists had awakened from the ice and snow, quickly digging and climbing their way to the surface.
But what awaited them was an irresistible terror.
Without much effort, Joshua easily learned from the cultists—who were kneeling on the ground, crying and begging for mercy—how they had arrived at the Extreme North Icefield.
These cultists had used merchant ships on the Magellan Non-Freezing River, disguising themselves as merchants to bypass the patrols around the Northern lands. Then they had detoured through the Black Forest on the outskirts of Moldova before finally reaching the Extreme North Icefield. They had come to dig for plague toxins possibly buried at the lowest level of the dragon's nest. These plague toxins were related to their next mission, but what that mission specifically was, only the leading Gold-rank female priestess knew.
Joshua didn't ask about the rest, but the cultists, eager to survive, voluntarily revealed everything, even detailing the specifics. Seeing their enthusiasm, the warrior almost thought they mistook him for a high-ranking priest.
As elite infiltrators of Moldavia, these people naturally knew of Joshua's power and terror. But only those who had seen Joshua in person understood that the rumors fell far short of the truth. Faced with an existence that made both survival instinct and soul premonition scream warnings, no one would be foolish enough to lie.
Since they were so cooperative, Joshua didn't plan to kill them immediately. He slightly curled his fingers, then shot out streams of air, knocking them unconscious. The warrior intended to hand them over to the church, letting Atanis and the others slowly interrogate them.
Through observation, Joshua could also confirm that these people carried no plague germs, unlike the cultists he had captured last time who were used for suicide bombings. They seemed to be the core members of the cult, and he could likely extract more information from them.
Carrying the still-unconscious group of four and the prisoners, Joshua returned to the foot of the mountain where the Black Dragon girl was. By now, the Gold-rank female priestess had awakened. She sat on the ground with a grim expression, the soul flame in her half-skull face so faint it was nearly extinguished—a severe aftereffect of the concussion.
The woman showed no sign of resistance. Even with only Black beside her, she hadn't thought of escaping. When she saw Joshua walking slowly over, her lips moved slightly, as if muttering something to herself, but in the end, no sound came out.
"What were you doing in the Northern lands?"
Placing the prisoners and students on the snow, Joshua didn't stand on ceremony with the cultist. He asked directly: "I heard there's an ancient ruin recently discovered near Moldova. You're here for that, aren't you?"
"...Yes, my lord."
After a moment of silence, she replied very respectfully. The female priestess was terrified of angering Joshua with her words or actions, so she answered cautiously: "Our order discovered long ago that there's an ancient ruin in the Black Forest of Moldova. Through the High Priest's prophecies and records in ancient texts, the order's high-ranking members believe it contains something we must obtain... But for some reason, the news leaked. The arrival of many adventurers hindered our operations, so we planned to..."
At this point, she gave a bitter, wry smile: "Brandon Kaos and Verdani Scarlet are both Gold High-rank, even Peak-rank experts. Their garrison in Moldova is only slightly inferior to your territory, my lord. So, to explore the ruins as soon as possible, the High Priest decided to come in person. We were just here to find plague toxins for the High Priest's smooth operation, to see if we could stir up chaos in the Moldova territory..."
Hearing this, Joshua raised an eyebrow. He exchanged a glance with the Black Dragon girl, who hadn't understood a word, and said: "So the ruins in Moldova were discovered by you first? With you causing trouble among the adventurers, no wonder Brandon and the others are so busy they can't even take care of their daughter."
The female priestess said nothing, but cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
Whether demon worshippers or cult orders, they all had unique binding methods to keep their secrets from leaking—blood oaths or mental locks. For ordinary secrets, like those the cultists had eagerly revealed to Joshua earlier, there was no backlash. But for someone like this female priestess, revealing important information would incur punishment.
Judging by her expression, the binding method was likely a mental lock. She was probably suffering from a soul backlash at that moment.
After the soul backlash ended and she finally breathed a sigh of relief, Joshua asked again: "Who is this High Priest you mentioned, and how strong are they?"
He asked calmly: "You're confident that once he arrives, he can ignore the interference of Brandon and Verdani to explore the ruins. That means he must be very strong, right?"
"Of course, very strong."
Hearing the warrior's words, the soul flame in the female priestess's eye sockets flickered. But for some reason, she calmed down and spoke in a strange tone: "Rumor has it that the lord of the Radcliffe family is a battle-crazed maniac, unafraid even to fight a Legendary expert like the Imperial Emperor... I originally thought a local lord wouldn't likely have such a personality, but it turns out to be true."
"I myself think I'm not suited to be a lord." Joshua shrugged. He looked at the female priestess, who had suddenly lost her fear and was speaking much more calmly, and said thoughtfully: "It seems he's indeed very strong. Just thinking of his existence has rekindled your courage, allowing you to speak normally with me."
"Naturally... Joshua van Radcliffe, I admit you are far stronger than I imagined, even surpassing the rumors. Just seeing you, I know that no matter how I scheme, I can't escape. Even with the best luck, I'm doomed to lose. So I won't resist."
Sitting on the ground with a pale face, the female priestess closed her eyes and sneered: "Your strength even makes me hallucinate. My soul is crushed by instinctive fear within my body, unable to even channel mana... You're not a Legendary, but you're only missing the breakthrough point. Among all the Ultimate-rank experts in this world, you could hold a top-ten position."
"But there's still a gap between you and the High Priest."
"Oh?" Hearing this, Joshua's expression shifted. He rubbed his chin, showing no sign of anger.
The female priestess continued to speak to herself: "But in the end, you still haven't broken through that shackle. No matter how fast your progress, you can't quickly reach the Legendary realm. But the High Priest is different... He has already touched the final layer of the shackle. He's only a little short of becoming a Legendary."
Opening her eyes again, the black-robed cultist said in a cold voice: "You cannot stop the High Priest's steps. Not even Nostradamus can."
Having mustered her last bit of courage to say all this to the warrior, the female priestess expected Joshua to kill her in anger, so she put on a brave, sacrificial expression. But to her surprise, Joshua did nothing, instead seeming lost in thought.
"Year 833 of the Falling Stars era, cult leader, about to break through to Legendary..."
The warrior wasn't even looking at the female priestess. He was simply recalling past information: "—Sounds like another old acquaintance."
"He is indeed a strong one."
With that thought, he showed a pure smile. Joshua looked down at the female priestess and said leisurely: "Thank you. You've brought me the best news I've had in the past few months."
After saying this, he flicked his finger again, knocking out the Gold-rank priestess. Then he walked toward the group of four. Black followed closely behind Joshua and asked curiously: "Master, master, is that person she mentioned really that strong?"
"Probably, yes." Joshua nodded. He thought for a moment and continued: "That person is indeed a genius. If he hadn't fallen into the cult decades ago, he would be a renowned expert today, perhaps even reaching the Legendary realm. But even now, he's about to break through to Legendary."
"I didn't expect that taking you for a walk would yield such a harvest."
Joshua and Black had originally been running around various parts of the Extreme North Icefield, confirming whether there were signs of large-scale magical beast migration. But halfway through, the two had detected a Gold-rank magical power fluctuation near the dragon's nest in the distance.
Initially, the warrior thought it was two Gold-rank magical beasts fighting for control of the area. But it turned out to be a battle between an armored mountain dragon and cultists. Joshua also sensed the presence of his academy students halfway up the mountain and at the foot. Just as he was about to set off to rescue them, the avalanche was triggered by Amira and the others.
Ending his recollection, Joshua sighed at his students' audacity. He bent down and patted the faces of the four, who were about to wake up.
But as soon as they woke up and saw the warrior, the four screamed "Ah!" and scrambled backward in terror.
The smile vanished from the warrior's face.
Ivan, who had also awakened, quickly calmed down. The first thing he felt was a series of sharp pains inside his body—the lingering injuries from his not-yet-fully-healed internal organs. But it was much milder than he had imagined. The hunter boy had originally thought that even if he didn't die at the hands of the cultists, he would succumb to his severe injuries.
Looking up at the lord and the cultists collapsed around them, Ivan immediately understood how they had survived. He stood up and somewhat awkwardly thanked Joshua. Influenced by the boy, Amira, Karin, and Nick, who were gradually regaining their senses, also expressed their gratitude to Joshua.
"There's nothing to thank. I just happened to be taking a walk nearby." Seeing the four, who were so nervous they could barely stammer out their words, Joshua sighed and shook his head: "You saved yourselves for the most part—daring to trigger an avalanche and play mutual destruction with cultists at such a young age. If you can maintain that kind of courage, you'll surely achieve something in the future."
With that, the warrior deliberately looked at Ivan.
He often saw this child. Ivan Makarov was known as the most hardworking student in the entire Winterfell Academy. Apart from a few who didn't get along with him, most students and teachers had a good impression of him. This boy had high talent in spell theory and was no slouch in combat. Overall, he was an excellent talent, even a genius.
This encounter with the cultists had also shown Joshua the boy's courage and determination. After a moment's thought, the warrior spoke: "This time, half the credit for wiping out these cultists will go to you. But why were you in the Extreme North Icefield? This isn't a place for students of your level."
None of them dared to lie to Joshua, so they honestly told the truth.
"Gold?" After hearing this, Joshua's expression turned strange: "Come to think of it, I did forget to dig out the White Dragon's storage room. I only took the egg and the corpse... But you ventured into the Extreme North Icefield based on a magical beast's words? That was too reckless."
Beside him, Black gave Joshua a strange look. She muttered softly to herself in confusion: "Huh, is that considered reckless too?"
At that moment, four faint points of light appeared in the distant sky of the Extreme North Icefield. Joshua looked up and praised: "Not bad. The rescue arrived in time. It seems even without me, you wouldn't have been in mortal danger."
Although the four were only Black Iron-rank mages, they could also sense the intense magical power fluctuations in the distance. Multiple Gold-rank mages were flying toward them at high speed, but they seemed to have detected Joshua's presence and slowed down.
Just then, Ivan saw his lord pull out a piece of paper and a pen from somewhere, quickly scribble a few words, and sign his name. The warrior handed the parchment to the boy: "Here's my permit. You can freely enter and exit my study in Winterfell and borrow any books from the library that meet your requirements."
Joshua put away his pen. Looking at the delighted young boys and girls, he couldn't help but smile: "Of course, this is a reward for your courage... And as for you four, until next summer, you are not allowed to leave Winterfell Academy. Your maximum range of activity is the vicinity of Nissier Snow Mountain. That's the punishment for your recklessness."
None of Ivan, Amira, Karin, or Nick expressed the slightest objection, not even in their hearts. Everyone clearly understood that with advanced teaching materials, they had no need to run around completing tasks. Even if their points were surpassed by others, it didn't matter. They could use these six months to improve their strength and enrich their knowledge as much as possible.
By then, two leading Gold-rank mages had arrived first. They respectfully bowed to Joshua, and the warrior nodded slightly, signaling them to take care of the students.
Then, he looked toward the east, toward the Moldova territory.
"An ancient ruin, huh." Joshua said softly.
"Interesting."