# Chapter 12: Let Me Take a Look!
There was no doubt that the Azure Orb and that robe possessed completely identical auras—Joshua had not lied about this matter.
Although Urbandini still harbored doubts in its heart, the fluctuations of Order Force could not be faked. In its memory, only the 'One' from long ago had possessed such power fluctuations, and that 'One' had also said that he was not alone.
But neither he nor the Titan Giant had ever imagined that meeting again with a companion would come a full thousand years later.
Thus, the Lord of Dark River sighed, then spoke in a tone tinged with helplessness: "You are late, powerful warrior. Just a few minutes ago, the companion you seek was still within these mountains."
Explaining all of this did not take much time for Urbandini and Joshua. Accompanied by the giant's thunder-like voice, the progression of events unfolded.
Hilja had used the Holy Stone Seed as payment, requesting Urbandini's protection. Originally, the Titan Giant only intended to protect her for twenty days because of the overwhelming number of pursuers behind her. However, upon seeing the Saint's Light erupting from the robe, it decided to safely escort her to the Saint's Tomb in the southwestern part of the continent.
But what they hadn't expected was that the pursuers of the Death Shadow were numerous enough to surround the entire Shaya Mountain Range—a tide of shadow monsters flooded the mountains and forests like ocean waves, shaking the earth itself. Unwilling to fully reveal its strength and forced to fight in its treant form, Urbandini could at most protect Hilja's safety but could not send her out.
Then came the arrival of the three great commanders of the Death Shadow.
"As everyone knows, among the Death Shadow, there exist beings with intelligence." As the Titan Giant spoke, its purple-flame eyes swept across the surrounding world. Under its gaze, the remaining weak undead instantly turned to ash: "Their power is great, capable of commanding other Death Shadows, and they can even enhance their own strength through the death of other Death Shadows."
Hearing this, Joshua nodded. He had flown all the way from the southeastern edge of the continent and had indeed seen many such Death Shadows. Sensing the danger of these beings, he had eliminated them all.
"And in this world, the most powerful Death Shadow commanders are all gathered within the former Ulan Empire's capital, Gaitar. There are seven of them. In life, their identities were all great heroes who once shook the world and had their legends passed down through countless generations. They are the ones hunting your companion."
Feeling the injury on his left shoulder, Urbandini's tone couldn't help but carry a hint of anger, its thunderous voice echoing through the sky: "In the past, I didn't know their true identities, but now I at least know that among them is the Sun-Falling Divine Archer, Eramos."
What happened next needed no further explanation. Facing the assault of three Death Shadow commanders, even Urbandini could no longer hold back and had to unleash its full strength as a Titan Giant. In the midst of fierce battle, unable to protect the Dragon-Winged Girl, it simply constructed a random teleportation array that could only determine a general direction, sending Hilja away directly.
"I see."
After hearing this, Joshua felt no great disappointment. He had long anticipated that this journey would not be smooth sailing. At least now he was certain that the other party was not dead and that the Fourth Saint's Relic was intact—this was already a decent outcome. After all, in Pope Eagle's worst-case scenario, the coordinate signal that had crossed through many worlds could very well have been produced by the Saint's Relic self-destructing.
After thinking for a moment, Joshua pressed further: "Then, can you roughly determine the direction?"
"The range I set was to the west."
Urbandini shook its head, causing quite a few pieces of gravel to fall from its massive black rock-like head: "Beyond that, I know nothing. I am not skilled in teleportation. As for whether she ended up underground or in the sky, I have absolutely no idea."
—Though unreliable, it was at least straightforward.
Thinking that the target he sought might have been directly teleported into underground rock layers, Joshua's heart tightened. But then the warrior felt that the Saint's Relic couldn't be so useless as to let its inheritor die so easily.
Regardless, it seemed he wouldn't be able to find the other party quickly now.
His thoughts concluded, Joshua looked up at the Titan Giant, towering like a mountain peak. Urbandini, resembling a humanoid rock mountain, possessed unparalleled majesty. Even its upper body alone was four hundred meters tall. Beings like the so-called massive Sea King Behemoth or Floating Island Whale would be mere playthings in its hands, and dragons were no different from chicks to it.
At this moment, the giant was also examining the warrior. The aura that had come from Joshua's chest earlier stirred some vague memories from long, long ago within the Titan, who had slept for so long. These memories caused the purple flames in its deep eye sockets to flicker, releasing light of varying brightness.
"So, Lord of Dark River, I don't intend to take back these offerings. I want to ask other questions."
Just as Urbandini was sinking into deep thought, Joshua's words interrupted its reminiscence. But the giant felt no dissatisfaction, only endless emotion.
Those were ethereal memories it had long forgotten, gradually fading from its spiritual sea. If not for this aura, it might have completely erased those past events.
"Fine. Ask away." Coming back to its senses, the giant replied.
"Why has this world become like this?"
Joshua's words were simple and direct.
In the past, he had traveled to many different worlds—the barren continent of Carlis, the natural lands of Ilgna, and the broken sky-islands of the Bloodmoon Abyss. These worlds were all on the verge of destruction or had already been destroyed. By the time the warrior arrived, everything had already happened, leaving only counterattack and resistance.
But the situation in the Grandia World was slightly different. Although this continent was filled with ferocious undead, human settlements were still scattered like stars across every corner.
Moreover, according to what the old Heroic Spirit Yaren had said, the four major human settlements around the Saint's Tomb in the southwestern part of the continent still possessed extremely advanced magical technology reserves. They had already reclaimed quite a bit of wasteland and begun production and construction anew. If this was the apocalypse, then everything had already become as bad as it could get, and afterward, it could only slowly improve. The warrior believed that with this world's level of magic, they would eventually find a way to completely eliminate the Death Shadows.
Compared to the destruction wrought by the Evil Gods in the past, this world still had the possibility of salvation—and it didn't require miracles, only effort.
"The reason the world became like this... wait."
After a moment of silence, the Titan Giant's head slowly turned. It looked toward the northwest side of the continent and laughed disdainfully: "Alright, the peeping toms have left. I no longer need to maintain my combat form."
As soon as the words fell, the giant's body rapidly collapsed, forming a mountain of rubble. Countless black-brown veins, resembling plant roots and looking both biological and botanical, plunged into the earth, restoring the Dark River Forest, which had been destroyed by the previous battle, to its original state.
Lava cooled, death energy purified. Before long, the entire Shaya Mountain Range returned to calm. A massive treant, seemingly formed from condensed tree roots, burst forth from the peak's earth before Joshua and appeared before him: "You want to know why this world has become like this?"
"Exactly." The warrior nodded. This was not just to satisfy his curiosity but also to learn whether the Evil Gods were behind it.
After all, in the multiverse, worlds destroyed by undead were not few in number.
"Very well... But all of this begins several decades ago."
The treant's single purple-flame eye deeply fixed on Joshua, and then it began to narrate in a low voice.
This was not a dark story of sinister conspiracies, nor was it some stirring epic legend. The beginning of it all was nothing more than a perfectly ordinary technological rivalry between two empires.
The Grandia Continent was divided between two major powers: the Ulan Empire and the Gru Empire. One popularized psychic techniques and spells, while the other had a large population. Between them, aside from full-scale war, they competed in almost everything—and magical technology was naturally the top priority.
A Heaven-rank combatant, going all out, could destroy a city. But a Heaven-rank spellcaster, unleashing their full power, could turn everything within sight into a sea of fire. There was no distinction of strength between the two, but there was no doubt that spellcasters were more suited for war. To give their own spellcasters an advantage, the Ulan Empire spared no effort.
"From some ancient texts of unknown origin, they found a method to summon long-dead Heroic Spirits using relics and Holy Stone Seeds as energy sources. Then, completely disregarding that many Heroic Spirits did not wish to be awakened, they forcibly brought them back from their eternal slumber, making these past heroes fight for them."
Urbandini's voice carried both mockery and a helpless sigh: "So naturally, many powerful Heroic Spirits had no intention of serving them. Even many heroes originally from the Ulan Empire harbored dissatisfaction."
What happened next was easy to understand—even Joshua could guess three parts of it. The Ulan Empire tempted the Heroic Spirits with great rewards to fight for them, but the results were poor. The Emperor and the Arcane Marshals, who had invested most of the national treasury into this experiment, naturally could not accept failure for such a reason. They immediately began researching methods to control the Heroic Spirits.
"And then..." the warrior said softly.
"And then." The giant shook its head heavily. "And then the apocalypse descended."
"At that time, the Ulan Empire summoned seven Heroic Spirits who were considered powerful even throughout all of history. Since I had always stayed in the Dark River Forest, I didn't know their identities. Regardless, if the Ulan Empire's plan had succeeded, the balance of power on the continent would have shifted in their favor. But a sudden earthquake destroyed everything... Then came the strange mist that enveloped the entire world—a mist that could resurrect the dead and drive the Death Shadows into a frenzy."
"You're still holding something back."
Joshua suddenly frowned. He could discern truth, falsehood, and omissions from the fluctuations of soul and tone. The warrior spoke with some dissatisfaction: "You only described the process, but you didn't mention the most important reason."
"What exactly—caused the apocalypse to descend?"
"You noticed, did you." Urbandini was not alarmed by this. It stared at Joshua's chest, where the Azure Orb had previously shone. The giant was silent for a long time, then spoke softly: "Perhaps you can know this truth... After all, you might come from there—the homeland of 'that One.'"
Ignoring Joshua's furrowed brow of confusion, Urbandini's tree-like body shifted slightly, then said gently: "As you can see, I am a Titan."
It extended its hand, formed from wood, and stroked the mountain's rock: "A Titan's lifespan is nearly endless."
"What are you trying to say?" the warrior asked, puzzled.
"When I was still an earth embryo, I witnessed this world transition from violent to calm. When the first people came to this world, the primordial fury of creation made the entire continent a sea of lava. Endless water vapor mixed with underground poisonous mists shrouded the sky and the abyss. And 'that One,' using the Saint's Ritual and wielding the power of creation, transformed the world into what you and I see today."
Urbandini spoke calmly, revealing the truth it had guessed: "Bound by an oath, I was confined to the center of the continent. I naturally do not know the true reason why the world became like this—but I can sense that the mist that brought death to this world carries the aura of the ritual that once brought calm to the world long, long ago. Only, its purpose is exactly the opposite."
"Alright, human. This topic ends here. You are a being from another world. Why do you ask so many questions about our world's information?"
With that, the Titan ended the topic. It took the raw crystals the warrior had offered and said calmly: "Any more questions? Although you wounded me, I know that your arrival made those Death Shadows withdraw. I can do one more thing for you as a favor."
"No... wait."
Having recorded all the information Urbandini had provided, Joshua originally intended to decline—he had no need for help. But then the warrior's heart stirred, and he changed his words: "Urbandini, you are indeed a Mountain Titan, correct?"
"Mountain Titan? Probably. My bloodline only tells me that I am a descendant of the Earth Mother Goddess, of divine bloodline, and a Titan. But what kind of Titan specifically, I am not sure."
On this matter, the giant had nothing to hide. It asked with some confusion: "Warrior, why are you asking this?"
Joshua smiled slightly.
Through the information given by Yaren and Urbandini, he had roughly understood part of the truth of this world.
The Grandia World was a brand-new world that had only been born a few thousand years ago. Before the 'first people' led by a Saint's Apostle arrived from the Mycroft Continent, it was still a sea of lava. But this Apostle, using the power of the Saint's Ritual, transformed the world into its current form.
As for the Death Shadows now plaguing the entire world, they were likely the result of this ritual being modified.
As for why the Saint's Apostle brought so many people—even a Divine Child of the Earth, a Titan embryo—to this world, the warrior guessed that it was likely to leave seeds behind. The Mycroft Continent had long since died, and the war with the Evil Gods could very well cause the entire world to collapse. The Saint naturally would not flee with people like the Father of Nature, but he would certainly leave contingency plans. Other deities would naturally also intervene to ensure the continuation of their descendants.
As for the Earth Mother Goddess...
Fire extends the light of existence, Steel shapes the origin of matter. Earth is the ash of fire, the rust of steel. The power of earth itself is one of the most important derivatives of Steel Force. And the direct bloodline of the Earth Mother Goddess, the Mountain Titan's ability to integrate multiple elements into one, is one of the powers closest to Steel Force.
"I want to observe and analyze your body structure, mighty Titan."
So Joshua nodded, speaking with an extremely serious tone and firm conviction: "It won't take long. Just let me take a look!"
And Urbandini was silent for a long time. The face formed from tree roots showed no expression, but the purple flames in its eye sockets danced wildly.
"Do you want to fight again, human?!"