Chapter 23: The Privilege of Willfulness
Following the scent of order, Joshua found his target—a carriage traveling along a country path.
The Fourth Inheritor was not particularly powerful, at most hovering around the mid-Gold realm. She had not concealed her aura, so Joshua had detected her presence from over a dozen kilometers away and accelerated to catch up.
The process was surprisingly smooth, beyond his expectations. No battle, no bothersome Death Shadows interrupting—simple, almost like a dream.
When the warrior truly stood suspended in mid-air above the carriage, he realized that his goal in this world was about to be achieved.
This good news was indeed somewhat exhilarating.
Releasing a faint trace of his pressure, Joshua made the two sturdy warhorses pulling the carriage gradually slow their pace, then lower their heads in fear and unease. The coachman, urging the horses forward, also spotted the warrior who had not concealed his form. He frantically knocked on the carriage window, loudly informing those inside that something unexpected had occurred outside.
Joshua did nothing else to provoke these ordinary people from the Holy City. He simply stood still, waiting for his target—the Fourth Inheritor—to appear.
And so, in the Resonance Illusion, the red-haired girl stepped down from the carriage, stood upon the earth, and met his gaze.
The warrior's attention was quickly drawn to the seemingly ordinary white robe she wore.
It was a spotless robe, untouched by any dust, adorned with nothing but a few simple, ancient runes. Yet in Joshua's eyes, he could see its true nature.
Just as the Azure Orb was a clump of flame that had never ignited, the Order Twin Blades were two indestructible beams of holy light, and the Pure White Staff was a vessel bearing the First Flame, this seemingly ordinary robe was woven from countless layers of star-like patterns. It used no mundane materials; vast energy and runes were its entirety. Even Joshua could not immediately discern how many runes it contained or how much energy it held. Spread flat and transformed into a formation, it might cover an entire continent, and if its energy were fully released, it could easily destroy anything.
The warrior vaguely recalled a similar existence—the Apocalypse Formation, a colossal magical array from another world's civilization that housed the souls of its entire population. Perhaps only such an existence could compare to the true form of this robe.
All of Joshua's focus was on the Inheritor's Robe, but on the other side, Shire's entire attention was fixed on the warrior.
It was a feeling difficult to describe.
Shire had wandered through this apocalyptic world for twenty-seven years, encountering countless intelligent beings. Over this long time, she had developed a certain ability.
Upon seeing a person, she could roughly discern their essence.
Wise, treacherous, bold, reckless, scheming, steadfast, stubborn... Even those skilled at hiding their true nature would reveal their essence through some inadvertent action, allowing Shire to detect it.
But this man before her...
Shire looked up and met his eyes, which resembled molten orbs. Her heart trembled involuntarily. What kind of eyes were those? All ordinary human emotions were drowned within them, yet they were not as dull and emotionless as a construct's. The terrifying pressure, enough to make one kneel instantly, was restrained within, seeming ready to erupt at any moment.
A calamity. Inhuman.
It was like facing an imminent volcanic eruption or a tsunami about to crash down—a sense of danger urging her to flee quickly, to get far away from this immensely powerful yet unfathomable existence. Even the commander of the undead army that had been pursuing her might not be as terrifying.
And then, the man spoke.
"Finally found you, the last inheritor."
His voice was deep and penetrating, with a faint metallic clang like steel striking steel. He spoke in an unexpectedly gentle tone, as if addressing a friend: "This world is too dangerous. You need to return with me quickly."
"The last inheritor... Is that me?"
Shire quickly realized who he meant by "the last inheritor." With a complex expression, she touched the robe on her body, but her body instinctively took a step back.
If it had been before, she would probably have followed this strong man without hesitation. But now, knowing the truth... she had no desire to leave at all.
The man immediately noticed this.
"You don't trust me. That's fair. After wandering outside for so many years, you and your family may have forgotten your mission."
He nodded slightly and said, "But even if you don't trust me, you should trust this light."
He extended his right hand slightly. His heart pulsed, emitting a heavy sound, and a clump of cyan light coalesced with that sound, forming a faintly burning flame in his palm.
This flame radiated light and heat. Though weak, it dispelled all the gloom and oppression around. When Shire saw it, an incomparable sense of security quickly filled every corner of her heart. She knew that the one holding this flame was undoubtedly her companion. Such orderly, pure light instinctively attracted all inheritors, like a signal in the night sky calling them to gather.
"...No."
Shire took a long breath. She stopped her trembling and calmed her body, which had wanted to reach out and touch the flame. In a low but unexpectedly firm voice, she said, "I will not return with you... I will not go to that world!"
Her words revealed a shocking, obvious disgust and an unyielding determination.
Hearing this, Joshua frowned slightly.
"Although I don't know why you refuse my request and are so unwilling to return to your ancestors' homeland—considering that many undead are hunting you in this world, and if not for Urban Deni's protection, you might have died long ago."
He put away the Azure Orb's light in his hand, took a mirror from his pocket, infused it with Order Force, and said flatly, "So this matter is not up to you."
The next moment, the warrior forcibly activated the sacred artifact made by the old Pope, notifying him that he had found the Fourth Inheritor. His tone remained unchanged: "I don't like forcing someone to do what they don't want to do, especially forcing a girl. But right now, the robe on your body carries the lives of hundreds of millions from an entire world. I won't go easy on this."
Sensing Joshua's shift in attitude, Shire immediately turned to flee. At her will, the robe flickered with faint light—the natural spell formed by countless runes interconnecting. In an instant, her form turned into a streak of light, and in a mere moment, she had escaped several kilometers away.
In the Grandia World, high-level professionals essentially used the mana energy absorbed from primal crystals within their bodies. When unleashed, it manifested as tens of tons of physical strength or enough destructive power to level a small building. That was the limit, and they could never use secret techniques like teleportation. But over years of fleeing, Shire had already broken through to the Earth Realm. Now, she could harness the infinite power contained in the earth and air, communicate with the ambient mana, and manipulate the energy of heaven and earth.
With such vast energy and the robe's divine properties, the Dragon-Winged Girl could continuously use a light-transformation technique similar to teleportation three times. During the undead army's pursuit, this skill had saved her countless times, allowing her to escape even the tightest encirclements.
But this time, something unexpected happened.
Joshua stood still, not moving at all. He simply focused his senses slightly, then flashed a thought. The next moment, Shire, who had already fled over three kilometers into the wilderness and was about to activate her second secret technique, felt an immense force in the air that brooked no refusal or resistance. This power was like a blazing sun, completely repelling the ambient energy she was gathering. Then, the energy formed a hand, tightly grasping the girl, and quickly "sent" her back to the carriage.
"Don't think about running."
With his hands behind his back, watching the Dragon-Winged Girl sent back at several times the speed of sound, the warrior walked forward slowly and said calmly, "Unless you can fly ten kilometers away in an instant, leaving my domain, you won't be able to leave even if you go to heaven or earth."
The energy hand dissipated, and the red-haired girl fell to the ground somewhat awkwardly. She pursed her lips, stood up, glared at the warrior with some resentment, but completely gave up the idea of escaping.
"So now."
Not caring about her attitude, Joshua walked up to Shire and asked in a somewhat strange tone, "Can you tell me why you wanted to run?"
The warrior thought his attitude had been quite gentle. The Fourth Inheritor didn't seem affected by his Despair Aura, so she shouldn't have been scared into running. Moreover, he had shown the Azure Orb's light. As an inheritor, she should naturally understand that he was her companion.
In the Grandia World, countless undead were hunting the Dragon-Winged Girl. From Urban Deni, Joshua had learned of Shire's dangerous situation in this world. He had originally thought that once he spoke, she, who had been struggling to flee, would gratefully return with him. He never expected this reaction.
But no matter how he asked, threatened, or cajoled, Shire remained with a look of facing death without fear, refusing to speak. Joshua was extremely frustrated. After all, he wasn't a villain at heart. Facing a fellow inheritor who might become a comrade in fighting Chaos, he couldn't coerce her too much. And asking the warrior to say lines that only a villain would utter was beyond him.
But it didn't matter much anyway. Joshua wanted the robe, not the person. Whether the girl agreed or not wasn't too important.
In the Holy Radiance Mirror gifted by Pope Eagle, holy light began to ripple, like layers of ripples on a calm lake after a stone is thrown. Soon, the ripples settled, and an aged face appeared. From the other side of the world, the old Pope exclaimed with barely contained joy, "Joshua, you found the Fourth Inheritor!?"
"Ah, that's right."
Joshua glanced sideways at the red-haired girl, who seemed determined to resist to the end. He thought for a moment but realized he hadn't asked her name, so he skipped over it: "I found her, but she seems uncooperative and unwilling to return with me."
"That's perfectly normal. You're asking someone to leave their homeland and go to another world with a stranger like you. If she agreed immediately, that would be abnormal." The old Pope actually spoke up for Shire. By adjusting the mirror's angle, Eagle saw the Dragon-Winged Girl bound in place by the warrior's Battle Qi. Like Joshua, he saw through the essence of the ancient robe she wore—a material existence formed by endless Order Runes. With just one glance, the old Pope fully confirmed that this was the Fourth Inheritor's item.
But then, Eagle's tone turned serious. In the mirror, the old Pope frowned slightly: "But Joshua, I really didn't expect you to find the target so quickly."
According to Eagle's speculation, even with Joshua's strength, finding an inconspicuous holder of a Sage's inheritance in a completely unfamiliar world would be very difficult. It could take months, half a year, or even years. The Church of the Seven Gods had already prepared for a long wait, never expecting the warrior to find the target in less than a month.
This speed was, frankly, too fast—faster than anticipated.
"So, the teleportation channel hasn't been fully constructed yet."
After a moment's hesitation, Eagle revealed the truth: "Sending you over last time was a hasty move. The channel shattered completely afterward. Now we're building a new, more stable space-time channel—one that won't be affected even by the Great Magic Tide's arrival. But it's not fully built yet. Even sending one person back is very difficult."
"Should we wait a bit? In five days, the channel will officially open. Then even sending your black dragon over would be easy."
"No." Hearing this news, Joshua frowned at first, then his eyes lit up as if thinking of something good. He shook his head in refusal: "The longer we delay, the more trouble there might be. I'll send her back now. If you can, Your Holiness, you can also ask why she's so resistant to our goodwill."
"Very well, as you wish."
Since Joshua had made his decision, the old Pope wouldn't refuse. The old man's face in the Holy Radiance Mirror gradually faded, leaving only a final message: "I'm opening the portal. Be prepared."
At this moment, the two people from the Holy City—a coachman and a noblewoman—stood before the carriage, stunned by the scene. They couldn't understand what was happening. Who was this powerful being, no less than the city lords? Who was he talking to? And why had he captured that ordinary Dragon-Blooded girl?
Because Joshua and the old Pope had been speaking in the common language of the Mycroft Continent. Not only they, but even Shire couldn't understand it. The Grandia World and the Mycroft Continent had some connections; the relationship between their common languages was like French and Latin. But even so, ordinary people without research couldn't distinguish them.
And the next moment, they had no mind to think about anything else. Before their eyes, in the center of the endless wilderness, ripples like flowing water suddenly appeared. These ripples stirred space, creating a tiny crack in the center of the disturbance. Around this crack, layers of mysterious, complex runes revolved, causing it to gradually expand over time. A humming sound like gears meshing and running echoed, making everyone present feel dazed.
Then, a crack barely wide enough for one person to pass through opened. Joshua, completely unaffected by the space-time sound, directly grabbed Shire like a chick and threw her, along with the Fourth Inheritor's item, through the crack. The crack then snapped shut, leaving only a fist-sized remnant.
—Honestly, this seemed a bit like an alien abduction.
When throwing the stunned, helpless Shire into the space-time crack, this thought suddenly popped into Joshua's mind. Thinking about it carefully, weren't they, from another world, essentially aliens? For their own purposes, forcibly demanding that the local Fourth Inheritor go to their world—that was undoubtedly abduction. Seriously speaking, he, the Northern Count, and the Pope of the Church of the Seven Gods were no different from kidnappers demanding ransom.
But even if it was abduction, it didn't matter. Once the four Inheritor items were gathered, they could learn the secrets of the First Flame. This concerned the lives of hundreds of millions on the Mycroft Continent. If mere abduction could solve it, Joshua wouldn't mind doing it a few more times.
"Well, thank you for your trouble."
The old Pope's voice came from the reactivated Holy Radiance Mirror, faintly mixed with Shire's angry shouts like "Let me go!" and "You bastards!" But both he and the warrior ignored them as if they couldn't hear. Eagle said with some emotion, "I don't know how dangerous the other side of the world is, or how you're doing now. But don't worry. In at most five days, the formal space-time channel will open. Then the Church of the Seven Gods' power can directly intervene in that world."
"Dangerous... definitely dangerous."
Joshua turned to look at the southern wasteland, thinking of the thirty-plus survivors there. In five days, when the channel reopened, those children wouldn't have to struggle to survive in the wilderness. He said softly, "This world is striding toward its end... If I weren't burdened with a mission... Wait."
Saying this, the warrior suddenly fell silent. He frowned in thought for a moment, then his mind suddenly cleared.
The Fourth Inheritor and the Inheritor item had been found and sent back. Just now, he had thrown the Dragon-Winged Girl into the space-time crack, sending her to the old Pope's side.
This meant... there was nothing left to bind him now!
In that instant, many thoughts flashed through Joshua's mind. He remembered the group of knights he had seen when he first arrived in this world, the residents of Yaren Town who, under the protection of a Heroic Spirit, still had to train in martial arts day and night, searching for needed supplies in the dangerous forests and wilderness. Even Urban Deni, a Mountain Titan, had to be constantly wary of possible Death Shadow attacks, and even with his peak Heaven Realm strength, there was a chance of falling.
This world was so dangerous and merciless, devoid of any order or warmth. The Death Shadows had ended any possibility of human survivors on the surface rebuilding civilization. Even though the survivor towns in the southwestern wasteland had begun to trade with each other, facing the surging Death Shadow army, only thirty-plus children had survived.
Ruined towns, old diaries, children lost and uncertain of their future, bloodthirsty undead, confused souls, and a former hero seeking death.
The Fourth Inheritor remained silent about this. She must know the deepest secrets of this world, which was why she acted this way. But precisely because of this, the warrior could be certain.
This world was sick. Very sick. So sick that those who knew the truth dared not speak it.
So someone needed to heal it.
Thinking this, Joshua laughed heartily. He clenched his fists, his knuckles tightening, producing a thunderous roar. The laughter carried far, so far that even the old Pope on the other side of the space-time channel could hear it clearly.
The next moment, amidst Eagle's puzzled inquiries, the warrior reached out and pressed his hand to his heart. Life Energy surged like a tsunami, forcing a cyan orb out of his body. Without any hesitation, Joshua threw this Inheritor item, which had accompanied him through countless battles, into the fist-sized remnant of the space-time crack. Then, with a point of his finger, blazing Battle Qi directly sealed the space-time channel, severing all connection between the two worlds.
"Joshua, what are you doing?!"
The old Pope's roar came through the Holy Radiance Mirror to the warrior's ear. He asked in an almost accusatory tone, "Why are you separating the Azure Orb from your body?!"
"With the four Inheritor items gathered, Your Holiness, you should be able to find the secrets of the First Flame." Having lost the Azure Orb, Joshua's face paled, but since all the Life Energy contained in the orb had been extracted to forge his Titan body, his strength was unaffected. Hearing Eagle's words, Joshua laughed indifferently: "And I, naturally, am going to do what I want to do."
With that, he looked up at the dim dawn slowly rising. His smile gradually faded, and his expression became calm and heavy.
"A world is suffering before my eyes."
"Millions of beings are weeping and wailing before my eyes."
"How can I sit idly by? How can I remain unmoved?"
Joshua sighed deeply: "After coming to this world, I always felt my thoughts weren't clear. Now I think about it, to find the Fourth Inheritor quickly, I suppressed my true nature and did too little."
"But now it's different. I have no restraints."
The warrior extended his right hand. In this hand, tempered through countless trials and seemingly indestructible, a metallic sheen suddenly appeared. Though it looked ordinary, all matter within a few hundred meters—rocks, carriages, humans, trees—became lighter by a fraction. Some lighter dust and rocks had begun to lose gravity, slowly orbiting this hand under Joshua's control like satellites.
"I am close to the Legendary Realm."
He said flatly, "No need to worry about my safety."
"Since the Fourth Inheritor won't speak, I'll find out myself. Find the truth of this world's impending destruction—and reverse it."
"This is the choice a Sage's inheritor should make."
At this moment, Joshua began to laugh again—the smile of a warrior whose battle intent was burning fiercely. Then, he put the Holy Radiance Mirror back into his pocket, no longer listening to the old Pope's reprimands from the other side of the world.
Joshua knew, of course, that this choice was willful.
But the strong had the privilege of being willful.
Bang. Around him, blazing flames began to burn. This fire was bright, like a sun, carrying a surging tide of life, replacing the dawn and illuminating this dark, gloomy world.
It was the anger of the Soulflame King facing this world, the light he released.
On the other side of the world.
Mycroft Continent, Far Sea Holy Mountain, Church of the Seven Gods.
Inside the Star Temple, the old Pope Eagle crushed the communication mirror in his hand with anger. He took a deep breath, suppressing the fury deep within his heart.
This Joshua—he didn't understand how important his existence was!
Looking back over the thousand-year history of the Mycroft Continent, those who had held the Sage's Inheritor items numbered not a thousand but several hundred. The Pure White Staff alone had been held by successive Popes of the Seven Gods and several revered High Priests. The Order Twin Blades of the Kaos Family had been worn by all family members for a time, until the twin blades chose their master. Not to mention the Azure Orb, which had passed through countless hands while lost outside.
But even with so many people over so many years, only Joshua's Azure Orb had achieved what others couldn't—merging the Inheritor item with oneself.
"He might be the one truly recognized by the Sage... His existence is more important than a dead object!"
Holding the Azure Orb, still warm from the warrior's heartbeat, the old Pope's usually calm heart began to surge with anger again. But when he turned his head, he saw the silent, still-bound red-haired girl. Eagle sighed, then pointed a finger, releasing her from the restraints.
"I'm sorry. Our actions were too rash."
A telepathic voice appeared deep in Shire's heart. Although Pope Eagle didn't know the Grandia World's common language, he could use telepathy, bypassing the need for language: "Though it's somewhat abrupt, for now, I can only ask you to stay here. Joshua—the one who sent you here—has gone to investigate the truth of your world. Perhaps he will solve those troubles."
"Him... His strength is indeed great. But if he thinks he can solve the disaster our world faces... impossible."
During telepathic communication, it was almost impossible for either party to hide their true thoughts. Shire had noticed this the moment the conversation began. But now, a girl in a foreign world, she didn't care. She softly revealed part of the truth of her world.
"The Death Shadow Calamity is a punishment from the Sage."
She said this, her tone calm and despairing: "My ancestors were merely jailers guarding criminals. The entire world is a cage imprisoning traitors."