# Chapter 6: The Reason for Arrogance
As the warrior finished speaking, accompanied by a flash of white light that was not bright but exceptionally gentle, a somewhat illusory figure appeared abruptly before Joshua like a projection. It was the current Pope of the Church of the Seven Gods, the legendary Clergy, His Holiness Saint Eagle.
The reason Joshua had not spoken more with Hill and the others earlier, instead frequently interrupting them, was mainly because from the very beginning, he had sensed a strand of consciousness attempting to communicate with him. Having recognized the owner of this consciousness, the warrior understood that unless there was something urgent, Eagle would not contact him so abruptly. But out of respect for Hill and Fina, he had waited until finishing his conversation with them before contacting Eagle in order of priority.
"I didn't expect you to be meeting with others. That was my fault."
The old Pope was naturally not the type of person who believed he deserved special privileges because of his status. Noticing that he had interrupted Joshua's conversation with others, Eagle spoke with an apologetic tone: "I am currently deep within the Great Temple of the Seven Sacred Mountains, only projecting a strand of consciousness. I couldn't focus on the situation before, nor can I go to meet you in person like Barbarossa and the others."
"It's nothing. Then, Your Holiness the Pope, is there something urgent?"
Joshua held great respect for the old Pope, who was a paragon of strength, character, and morality. He asked with some curiosity: "If there was something urgent, why didn't you come to the Void earlier and speak with me face to face?"
"Because of some matters... concerning the internal affairs of the Church of the Seven Gods. But this has nothing to do with what I wish to discuss with you."
The old Pope, as a projection, stroked his beard, seemingly unsure how to explain. But after thinking for a moment, he still did not reveal anything to Joshua, only speaking softly: "I learned from Loranda about part of the truth regarding the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground. This matches some information preserved in the Church of the Seven Gods' scriptures. Since it concerns the Sage, I intend to invite you to the Holy Mountain to discuss related matters in detail. I hope you can find the time to come to the Holy Mountain and speak with me."
"That is only proper. Loranda had already mentioned this to me earlier. I didn't expect you to come personally to invite me as well."
Joshua nodded in agreement without hesitation. Not to mention that the Church of the Seven Gods was already a major power possessing numerous scriptures, Pope Eagle himself was the holder of the Sage's inherited artifact. The entire Church of the Seven Gods, and even the Seven Gods themselves, seemed vaguely connected to the Sage. Having become a Legendary, the warrior had already planned to have a good talk with the Pope. This invitation came at just the right time.
Seeing Joshua agree so readily, Pope Eagle seemed somewhat surprised, but his projection immediately said: "In that case, when do you plan to come?"
"Right now."
Before he finished speaking, Joshua took a single step and was already in the Void. Feeling the temporal currents rippling around him, he effortlessly determined the location of the Far Sea Holy Mountain. The next instant, his final words left in the Fairyland reached the ears of the Pope's projection, whose eyes had gone wide: "I'll be there immediately."
"..."
Eagle, who had been shocked by Joshua's decisive character more than once, was once again stunned. He had never seen someone so straightforward, so simple and direct. Letting out a silent laugh, the old Pope's projection shook its head and sighed with emotion: "Ah... youth is truly wonderful..."
As he spoke, the old Pope's projection dissipated on the spot. Meanwhile, Ying and Lin, who had sensed a trace of abnormal fluctuation, rushed out from the entrance of the exploration base, staring dumbfounded at Joshua's receding figure in the Void.
"Master... why did he suddenly run off again?!"
"How can this keep happening?! Every single time!"
"Have we... become mascots?"
Leaving aside the lamenting Divine Mechanism siblings, deep within the Heaven God Temple, the innermost chamber of the Great Temple of the Church of the Seven Gods at the Far Sea Holy Mountain.
A layer of clean silver sand covered the white marble. Star dust, refined from the most precious Mithril, lay like real sand in every corner of this small chamber. Seven crystal lamps made of spiral crystal, charged with the purest Holy Light Power, simultaneously released gentle light imbued with pure Order Force. Like spotlights, they illuminated seven holy emblem statues arranged around the room.
A white-haired old man sat at the very center of the chamber. The star dust absorbed all sound from the surroundings and shielded all elemental energy fluctuations, leaving only the Order Force of Holy Light pulsing in this environment. A subtle, pure white light film covered the old man's body. The light within was as gentle and full of vitality as morning dawn, yet as dim and filled with stillness as evening sunset. Countless different types, brightness levels, and wavelengths of light covered his surroundings, even forming a complete, self-consistent cycle.
The seven holy emblem statues: the black ring representing the God of Might and Justice, the withered heart representing the God of Love and Decay, the ouroboros representing the God of Order and Destruction, the thorned crown and flying bird representing the God of Constraint and Freedom, the hammer and book representing the God of Shelter and Change, the forked eye representing the God of Wisdom and Choice, and finally, the bones, earth, and grass representing the God of Life.
The old man had his eyes closed, not looking at any of the statues, but these statues flashed in sequence, projecting portions of their crystal lamp beams onto the old man. They flickered back and forth, as if communicating, transmitting certain messages and words. After listening for a long time, the old man slowly spoke: "I disagree."
His voice echoed clearly in the silent chamber. The old man, the Pope of the Seven Gods, Saint Eagle, opened his eyes and said in a calm tone: "He is more suitable than I am."
"Yes, I am your Pope, the agent on earth. I am your spokesperson. I love this continent as much as you do, love this world, love the races living upon it. But suitability has nothing to do with status."
"I am old... yes, I can still live for many years. If there are no accidents, I could even live to see the dawn of the next era. But my heart has grown old. I am not suited for pioneering, only for guarding. My disciple is even more suited for this position than I am."
"The ancient Sacrificial Ground has reappeared. The gates of the myriad realms have returned. The river of fate has scattered. The future has turned toward an unknown darkness we cannot comprehend."
The old man spoke softly, his tone calm and indifferent: "Gods, the disasters, wails, and deaths you predicted did not come to pass. This proves that even you are not absolutely correct. Mortals can sometimes change fate, causing everything to deviate from the original plan. I was already prepared to sacrifice myself, but look, the flame has been rekindled. The most perfect ending, one you dared not even imagine, has arrived."
"Since that is the case, why not try to believe?"
Hearing the old Pope's words, all seven holy emblem statues trembled simultaneously. Then, after a long silence, under Eagle's silent gaze, all the statues simultaneously released brilliant light of different colors, then projected in sequence onto the old Pope's arm.
The black ring, the gray heart, the silver ouroboros, the white bird and brown thorns, the red hammer and golden book, the cyan forked eye, and the white-black-green bones, earth, and grass. Seven emblems, completely different in both fluctuation and color, were inscribed onto the old Pope's arm, forming a tree-like diagram composed of holy emblems.
"..."
Light flickered. Endless information flowed, as if entrusting something. The old Pope listened quietly, finally nodding solemnly.
"I am the Deity walking among mortals, the spokesperson of the gods, the Pope of the Mycroft people."
Slowly rising, Eagle stood in the center of the chamber. He looked around at the seven holy emblem statues emitting light before him, and spoke with the utmost solemnity and seriousness: "I am Saint Eagle."
"I will naturally find the 'God Awakener' you have sought for a millennium."
At that very moment, in the Far South Far Sea, where storms had ceased, above the sky of the Far Sea Holy Mountain, a red star rapidly descended from the edge of the horizon. Then, just as it was about to touch the Holy Mountain's barrier, it came to an abrupt halt, as if completely ignoring the laws of reaction force.
Joshua remained outside the barrier, his arms crossed, waiting for it to open. By this time, many Clergy within the Holy Mountain had already identified the true nature of this falling star. They looked up at the warrior's figure, let out exclamations, and quickly notified their superiors layer by layer. The Legendary expert, the hero of the Holy Mountain War, Lord Count Radcliffe, had suddenly arrived at the Far Sea Holy Mountain, but no one knew his purpose.
The old Pope in the chamber stirred slightly. He had already received the memories sent back by his projection. Shaking his head with a wry smile, Eagle remotely controlled the Holy Mountain barrier, opening a door for Joshua. Once granted permission, the warrior descended directly to the foot of the Holy Mountain and, just like last time, proceeded step by step up the long staircase to the Great Temple at the summit.
With Joshua's strength, he could indeed ignore the Holy Mountain's barrier and the Church of the Seven Gods' rules for ascending the mountain. But he was not a chaotic person who disregarded order. True freedom exists without affecting others. He understood what order was and was willing to abide by it.
Soon, he arrived at the entrance of the Great Temple. The elite guards on the Holy Mountain all bowed in salute, respectfully indicating that His Holiness the Pope was waiting for him in the main hall.
Following the uncomplicated corridor, he arrived at the entrance door of the main hall. Joshua stepped inside and saw the light of the Mycroft Continent's setting sun streaming down from an opening in the dome, laying a golden-red path before him. The warrior looked up, following this path of twilight light to its farthest end. At the deepest part of the hall, surrounded by the seven holy emblem statues of the Seven Gods, a white-haired old man stood quietly, watching him.
Joshua and Eagle locked eyes. Between them, words were no longer needed to convey meaning. Eagle immediately understood why Joshua had so readily agreed to his invitation and come to the Seven Sacred Mountains, and also why he himself had meditated to his optimal state in the chamber before coming out to meet him.
It was instinct, the instinct between two experts.
He had known long ago that this day would eventually come, because the other party was Joshua van Radcliffe. But he hadn't expected it to come so quickly, so joyfully.
"Is there a reason, Joshua?"
Standing at the farthest end of the hall, surrounded by the seven holy emblems, the white-haired old man asked in a calm tone. He looked across the long distance shrouded by twilight light at the warrior standing at the other end of the hall: "I want to know your thoughts."
And Joshua, standing at the entrance of the hall, took a deep breath, feeling the power surging from the deepest part of his body. He shook his head and said calmly: "The arrogance of humans wanting to become the strongest has never had a reason from the beginning."
"I want to know how far I have reached. Other than you, I cannot find anyone else to help me confirm this."
"Ha ha, ha ha ha ha."
Hearing these willful and arrogant, arrogant yet sincere words, Saint Eagle was stunned for a moment, then naturally began to laugh. Joshua laughed along with him. Neither knew exactly why they were laughing, but both were equally cheerful and relaxed. After a while, the old Pope restrained his smile and said softly: "You certainly think highly of me. But I am very pleased."
Then, he clapped his hands. The formation already inscribed in the Great Temple activated. The next instant, accompanied by gentle temporal fluctuations, the two were no longer at the Far Sea Holy Mountain, but in a calm, light-filled Void.
This was a space without temporal currents, yet also without any matter. It seemed to be the Void, yet it wasn't, because from here, one could not see the trajectories of stars, nor the light film of worlds. This was a realm higher and more distant than the sky, without boundaries, located above clouds and wind.
This was the dwelling place of the gods, [Boundless Heaven].
"Then, Joshua, since you intend to challenge me."
In an instant, having transported two Legendary experts to Boundless Heaven, the fully prepared Pope of the Church of the Seven Gods, Saint Eagle, slowly manifested behind him countless strange light bubbles like glass balls, formed from countless spectra. These light bubbles contracted and expanded, merged and split. In just an instant, they seemed to have undergone thousands of transformations and reproductions, as if signifying time and space, fate, infinity... and light.
His entire body beginning to release equally unpredictable and ever-changing light currents, Eagle's mortal form began to gradually dissipate, gradually fade away. Until finally, only the infinite merging and splitting light clusters remained in the Void, along with one final, calm question.
"Then, do you understand light?"
## Chapters 7 & 8 Combined: The Speed of Light (7500 words)
What is light?
It is electromagnetic waves visible to the human eye. In reality, every intelligent life form has a slightly different definition of light, because their visual organs have subtle differences. But ultimately, light is a type of high-frequency electromagnetic wave, a stream of fundamental particles composed of photons, an entity with wave-particle duality.
This passage was written in the fifth paragraph of page thirty-four of the Earth Federation elementary school textbook. Joshua knew it more clearly than anyone, but he did not answer the old Pope's question. Because this was not Earth. This was a transcendent world called Mycroft, a world of miracles with magic, Battle Qi, and Holy Light.
No one knew what 'light' truly was here.
At this moment, Eagle's form began to transform. The smiling white-haired old man's body became translucent in a hazy glow. Intense light radiated from within him, turning the old Pope's body into a crystalline form like sparkling diamond. Behind him, countless particles like star dust floated in the darkness, then reconstituted into a brand new form. As space underwent strange distortions, one after another, gentle light spheres emitting different colors emerged from the Void. They merged and split, expanded and contracted, finally forming a strange yet sacred cluster of multicolored light spheres possessing the most pure geometric beauty, arrayed behind Eagle.
At the same time, Joshua spread his arms. Countless silver lights radiated from around him, then condensed in the Void into vein-like structures resembling neural networks and bones. A massive phantom naturally manifested. With bones and veins as its foundation, the giant shadow materialized from the ethereal. It was a giant over a hundred meters tall, formed entirely from condensed Steel Force. It had four arms, a massive electromagnetic field surrounding its body, and a ring pierced by a slowly rotating halo behind it.
A Legendary is the crystallization of a life form's contemplation of its ultimate form. That powerful form is the posture in which they can fully unleash their full strength. The light clusters condensed behind Eagle were like stars emitting multicolored light, but at a slightly greater distance from his main body, the multicolored merged into the most faint white light, filling the entire dark Void. Beside the steel giant that Joshua had transformed into, space was slightly shaking under the fluctuation of enormous mass, making his form appear somewhat distorted, as if light itself was changing its trajectory due to his power.
"Facing you, I wouldn't—"
Separated by several kilometers of Void, Eagle seemed to want to say something with his mind, but before he could finish the sentence, the old Pope had to fall silent. Because at this moment, Joshua, propelled by the nuclear fusion behind him, was charging straight at him like a silver arrow of light!
Several kilometers were crossed in an instant. In the frictionless Void, Joshua accelerated to his maximum speed almost instantly. The surrounding darkness flowed backward like a surging river. In his eyes, only Eagle was the target. And now, the other party was right before him.
But how could Eagle be someone whose rhythm would be disrupted by such a sudden attack? Facing Joshua, who was bearing down like a steel mountain, the old Pope showed no surprise. He raised his left hand, which emitted a warm light like diamond, spread his five fingers, and uttered a simple syllable.
"Shield."
Word of Power: Shield.
In one ten-thousandth of a second, a translucent light shield formed from countless particles abruptly appeared before Eagle, blocking Joshua's charging trajectory. High-energy particles vibrating at extreme speed formed an indestructible wall. If this most basic defensive Divine Art of the Church of the Seven Gods' Clergy were cast by someone else, it would at most block a flying arrow. But with Eagle's strength, this thin light wall was enough to withstand the breath of a Legendary Dragon and a falling meteor.
However, Joshua's speed and impact were more than ten times faster and heavier than an ordinary meteor. With a crisp sound like breaking glass, the steel giant shattered the light wall as if it were nothing, continuing its charge toward Eagle's main body without changing course.
By now, a silver greatsword had condensed in the warrior's hand. The Steel Force serrations, like those of a chainsaw, spun rapidly on the blade, stirring space into watery ripples. The next instant, this ferocious and violent weapon, over sixty meters in total length—truly a deadly weapon among deadly weapons—the chainsaw greatsword, came crashing down toward the old Pope, who still maintained the size of an ordinary person!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! In the instant the strike landed, one light barrier after another rose, only to be shattered by the giant sword again and again. Joshua's power surged like rolling waves, inexhaustible, each wave higher than the last. The Fusion Core Heart furnace spun rapidly, providing the warrior with incomparable energy. If this sword strike were on the Mycroft World, it would be enough to split the entire Great Aias Volcano in half from top to bottom. Even in the Void, it left a trail like lightning.
Before such an attack, everything was fragile.
Crack. The sound of the last light wall collapsing rang out. Breaking through Eagle's defenses in the most forceful manner, Joshua charged into the barrier with his giant sword. Around him were hundreds of translucent light walls slowly collapsing. In less than a second, he had engaged the old Pope in the most intense battle of shields and swords. Now, it seemed the sword had the upper hand.
But this less-than-a-second was also enough for the old Pope, who had lost the initiative, to reverse the momentum.
Facing the chainsaw greatsword that seemed about to crush him to pieces, Eagle's expression remained calm. He extended his right hand, and brilliant light bloomed from his palm. Then, he grasped the air and drew a pure white scepter from the center of this light—unlike the pure white staff he had shown Joshua before, the Sage's relic now had no slowly burning First Flame on its tip. Its end was empty. But even so, it was still the pure white staff, the Sage's legacy, the Sacred Artifact that bore the First Flame. Now, its mission to rekindle the flame was complete. But as a weapon, the scepter was indestructible.
Eagle raised it, seemingly just swinging it casually to block beneath Joshua's giant sword. The scene was like an ant swinging a leaf stem, trying to stop a crushing boulder. But the chainsaw greatsword was truly stopped by this tiny scepter, immovable!
The next instant, endless light surged from behind the old Pope, engulfing the warrior.
The light sphere cluster floating behind Eagle had been rotating from the very beginning. Now, it had accumulated enough power. Accompanied by a low hum, countless straight, curved, and spiral thick high-energy beams and light bullets surged out like a tidal wave, bombarding Joshua.
The speed of light is nearly three hundred thousand kilometers per second. An attack of light never needs to worry about who strikes first, because it will always hit first.
Under Eagle's calm control, thousands of light beams and tens of thousands of high-energy light particles converged into a vast light wave several kilometers wide. This light was like the brilliant morning dawn, containing endless vitality while also possessing the intensity to turn everything into nothingness. It carried boiling energy, forming a violent, mighty high-temperature energy current that pressed toward Joshua, holding nothing back.
Just as Eagle had intended to say at the beginning—facing Joshua, he would not hold back, and would attack the warrior with the attitude of 'killing him.'
Joshua was engulfed in an instant. The surrounding Void even produced a blue-green plasma cloud due to the excessively violent energy surge, flashing with thick electric currents. This attack was merely its residual effect, enough to pierce through mountains and turn an entire mountain range into a sea of fire. If not used in the Void, it could easily kill hundreds of thousands of people. Even the barrier of the Far Sea Holy Mountain itself could not withstand this penetrating power.
But the next instant, under Eagle's slightly surprised gaze, the million-degree plasma cloud was torn apart by a silver giant figure. Accompanied by a gust of surging wind that blew away the surrounding energy clouds, the completely unharmed steel giant appeared before the old Pope. Its solid shell reflected the surrounding light like the smoothest mirror. A barely perceptible yet extremely tough magnetic field barrier covered the giant's surface, flashing with light like electric circuits.
Having intended to challenge Eagle from the very beginning, how could Joshua not be prepared for the attacks of this being known as the incarnation of 'light'? The facts proved that targeted defense was indeed very effective.
"Not bad. Being able to directly withstand [Dawn Light]—there are fewer than five people in the entire Mycroft who can do that. In terms of defense, you are already the strongest I have seen."
Holding the pure white scepter, Eagle nodded slightly, quite pleased to acknowledge Joshua's strength. But the warrior had no intention of wasting time chatting with the old Pope. Joshua once again condensed a mass sword in his hand—the previous one had been shattered by the light current's impact. His weapons were, after all, not as durable as his body. The moment Eagle finished speaking, he once again erupted his power and charged toward the other party.
Facing the warrior who would attack without a word, Eagle shook his head somewhat helplessly. Behind him, countless bubble-like light spheres rotated, continuing to release scorching high-energy particle streams. But for Joshua, who was already prepared, this was already meaningless attack. He swung his giant sword, sweeping it once. Light was cut apart like flowing water by the enormous mass fluctuation. This mass wave, capable of even distorting space, continued to extend forward, slashing toward Eagle's main body.
"[Heavenly Shining Holy Light] seems ineffective against you. Then, try [Judgment Holy Light]."
Having released another high-energy particle stream, Eagle confirmed that Joshua was immune to this pure beam attack. But he was not flustered. Instead, he manipulated the light sphere cluster behind him to release hundreds of sharp tower-like spikes. At the tip of these spikes was a colorless, distorted light cluster constrained by a magnetic field. It flickered once, and the mass wave capable of cutting even light abruptly disappeared. The next instant, hundreds of spikes shone simultaneously, and a rain of invisible attacks poured down upon the warrior.
"Gravity waves? This counts as Holy Light?!"
This time, it was Joshua's turn to be surprised. According to his common sense, there was no way to equate condensed gravity wave beams with Holy Light. But for Eagle, who lived in a transcendent world, this seemed to be common sense. Faced with this difference, the warrior could only stop his charging steps, simultaneously condensing mass greatswords with all four hands, seriously blocking each invisible attack.
Gravity wave beams cannot be seen with the human eye. But for Joshua, who possessed Steel Force vision and could observe from a microscopic perspective, this attack left intense magnetic field reactions and distorted space in its path. Specifically, it was extremely bright plasma sparks and spatial ripples. In a certain sense, this was indeed a type of beam attack that could be classified under Holy Light. It could tear apart all matter from a microscopic perspective.
Even with his indestructible Steel Force body, Joshua was unwilling to allow this dangerous attack to bombard him freely. Precisely because the density of his own body was too condensed, if he accidentally caused a collapse reaction, that would be ridiculous. The warrior swung his steel swords, using the same mass fluctuations to neutralize each gravity wave. But this meant he could not interfere with Eagle's subsequent attacks, which was extremely disadvantageous for Joshua, whose raw strength was already inferior to the other party's.
The facts were precisely as such. At this moment, Eagle was still standing in his original position, not having moved a single step. He did not seem eager to use his full power, instead wanting to see Joshua's defensive limits. His hands could not reach the distant Joshua, but light was his hands. The light sphere cluster behind the old Pope released multicolored spectra, and all sorts of strange attacks bombarded the area where Joshua was—[Heavenly Blazing Holy Light], [Star-Piercing Holy Light], [Judgment Holy Light]. High-energy microwave irradiation, extreme particle beams, plasma lightning. A series of attacks that had no idea what relationship they had with light, yet were named after light, forced the warrior to remain in place defending, unable to advance an inch.
But Joshua had a method prepared long ago to deal with this situation.
Facing the countless incoming attacks of various wave-particle types that heaven knew what they were, Joshua stood in the center of Boundless Heaven's Void. Three of his arms continued to swing mass greatswords in defense, but his right hand gathered before him, fingers spread. Then, accompanied by five extremely dazzling nuclear fusion sparks, his five fingers, formed from the purest Steel Force, flew like five light-like arrows or missiles, propelled by explosive thrust, piercing through the layers of barrage toward Eagle's main body!
Unlike Joshua's massive main body, his five fingers were not large targets. Under the warrior's careful calculations, they avoided all threatening attacks and directly reached the vicinity of the wide-eyed Eagle. The seasoned Pope immediately stopped attacking, and a ring of white light waves like a star ring rose around him, attempting to repel these five silver Steel Force aggregates. But the moment the light waves expanded, Joshua's five fingers immediately decomposed, converting into the purest Steel Force and energy impact, engaging in a violent collision with Eagle's power!
Boom!!!
Even in the Void of Boundless Heaven, a massive explosion sufficient to shake space occurred. After the explosion, Eagle was nowhere to be seen. In his original position, black spatial cracks like spider webs tore through time and space, revealing gaps leading to the true Void. Vaguely, one could even see a temporal passage leading to another world.
The battle between the two Legendaries had even shattered the barriers between worlds, sending the unprepared Eagle crashing into an unknown world. Joshua did not hesitate, immediately following closely, passing through the black spatial cracks into the temporal passage.
A few seconds later, the torn time and space began to slowly close. Although the battle in Boundless Heaven had lasted only a few seconds, it was enough to shake one's heart. Around Boundless Heaven, several great wills withdrew their observing gazes. One of them, with a tentacle, smoothed the still-unclosed space.
"We shouldn't have let them fight here... The stability of Boundless Heaven has decreased by another 0.13%. Our descent into the material world has accelerated again."
"But seeing the battle between Eagle and Radcliffe was worth it. Compared to three centuries ago, the power of this generation's Legendaries is rising step by step. They have found the correct path of progress, the same as in the last era."
The great wills communicated among themselves, then fell silent once more. On the other side of the temporal passage.
The Seventh Abyss, a dead, cold, shattered world.
This was a shattered world where the entire continent had split apart due to crustal movements. Under the blowing of cold winds, ice layers and crust shifted in continuous violent earthquakes, tearing deep abysses into the surface. This tragic natural disaster had destroyed this world's civilization in the past, and continued to torment the ice demons surviving within it.
But now, a more terrible disaster than earthquakes and cold winds had arrived.
[Heavenly Punishment Holy Light]
When Joshua passed through the temporal passage and arrived at the Seventh Abyss, before he could recall this familiar Abyss aura, he saw a hurricane of light carrying golden lightning rushing toward him. The alarm bells in his heart rang loudly, but he could not dodge in time. He could only raise his arms before his head, condensing power for full defense. After a roar accompanied by an impact like being hit head-on by a mountain, Joshua lowered his arms and turned to look around—
Half a mountain had disappeared.
The reason he could confirm this was because there were still the remains of half a mountain on the ground. Most of it had been reduced to nothingness, leaving only a huge wound with smooth edges, flowing with magma. The cold world was heating up. Red-gold magma replaced the blue-white ice layers, beginning to appear in this dead world. In the sky, thick clouds were torn open by a cone-shaped wound, extending straight toward the horizon. Countless ice demons were swallowed by the sudden attack. The wails of survivors echoed in the now-warm wind, spreading into the distance.
The light current impact that was silent and inconspicuous in the Void could bring rolling thunder and produce such terrifying destructive power in the material world. No wonder Eagle had preferred to be surrounded by three Legendary Dragons rather than fight near the Far Sea Holy Mountain. It felt like boxing while protecting a basket of eggs. And if they really fought like this, the entire Far South coast would probably be swallowed by a massive tsunami.
But even such an attack only left a layer of high-heat red marks on Joshua's surface, like iron blocks in a furnace. And this red light was rapidly cooling. Thanks to the gift of the Steel Serpent, the warrior, whose body density had increased further, was no longer very afraid of this pure energy impact. If he were to encounter the Demon Lord Haier Mu's gamma ray bombardment again, he should be able to withstand it head-on.
Incidentally, Joshua's estimation of the strength of the three Legendary Dragon Kings increased by a notch: in his previous life, they had almost joined forces to defeat Eagle. He had not thought much of it before, but now that he thought about it, their strength was truly considerable.
"It seems that conventional Holy Light has no effect on you anymore."
I say, what kind of 'light' is that!
Suppressing the words that wanted to blurt out, Joshua looked up at Eagle, who had arrived first. He took a deep breath. He now felt a kind of troublesome difficulty to deal with.
The Void Behemoth was so massive that it could destroy an ecosystem by colliding with its body alone. But it had no good method to defend against his attacks, which was why it had been defeated after a long entangled battle by his and Nostradamus's combined efforts. But Eagle, even while standing still, not moving half a step, had blocked his most ferocious attack.
—Very strong. Truly worthy of being called the strongest beneath the Seven Gods, the Deity walking among mortals, Saint Eagle. But that was precisely why it was good. Only by fighting with such an expert could it be considered fun!
But at this moment, Eagle was also having similar thoughts.
"The Church's Divine Arts all like to be given the name of 'light.' But what exactly is light? The scriptures do not record it, and no one has distinguished it in detail."
Standing in mid-air, holding the pure white scepter, Eagle spoke with a tone carrying a hint of doubt, whether to Joshua or asking himself. On the ground before him, a cone-shaped magma trench several hundred meters wide had not yet closed. This was the residual effect of one of the Church of the Seven Gods' inherited supreme Divine Arts, [Heavenly Punishment Holy Light].
"Before I advanced to Legendary, I never thought about this question. But after I advanced to Legendary and obtained the pure white staff, through the First Flame, I gained a deeper understanding of light... So I began to try to grasp, to grasp that more fundamental power."
Saying this, the old Pope looked up at Joshua, who was still completely unharmed like himself. Eagle smiled slightly, then said: "I am going to use my true full power. Not just the Church's Divine Arts, but my own unique power... Can you try it?"
Eagle's tone when saying this carried a hint of worry about being rejected, like someone who had finally found an opponent worthy of his full power, and who could match it. To this, Joshua did not feel that the old Pope was being arrogant in the slightest. Because that was the natural right of the strong. He nodded without hesitation: "Of course."
"Is that so..."
Seeing Joshua agree so decisively, Eagle showed no superfluous expression. He seemed to have known that the warrior would agree, so he directly raised the pure white scepter in his hand. In ancient legends, the Sage had used this scepter to shatter the abysses of the myriad realms. Several worlds had collapsed under this scepter. The whiteness of the pure white staff was not purity, but the 'cleanliness' after reducing everything to nothingness.
Now, the former world-purifying staff was raised by a descendant. Pope Eagle's power lit a spark of light at the tip of this scepter, where the First Flame had once burned. Although this spark was faint, it could display a power equal to the First Flame for an instant—it swept across several hundred miles in an instant, but only swept across several hundred miles.
This series of actions took Eagle less than a second. But Joshua was the type of person who would not waste even one hundredth of a second. According to habit, he would have launched an attack the moment Eagle finished speaking. But the warrior did not attack. Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.
"Boom!"
The moment Eagle finished speaking, Joshua, who had been floating in mid-air, instantly fell from the sky. He landed heavily in a standing position between the magma layers on the surface, as if he had lost the ability to fly. The next moment, the warrior frowned deeply, striding out of the magma layer. But just as he reached halfway, he suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground!
"What...?!"
At this moment, true shock arose in Joshua's heart. If Eagle's previous attacks and defenses had caused him surprise but not strange emotions, then this sudden situation completely baffled the warrior. Since coming to the Mycroft World, after so many battles, this was the first time he had not understood what the other party had used to attack him.
In that instant just now, Joshua sensed that he had suddenly lost the ability to control the magnetic field around him. This immediately caused his enormous weight to be unable to resist gravity, falling from the sky. Next, his originally indestructible Steel Force body suddenly became fragile, unable to even support its own mass!
Others might not understand the concept of being unable to support one's own mass, but Joshua understood. It meant collapse. The high-density degenerate matter composing his body had become unstable. And before this, his body could even directly block attacks other than gravity wave beams. And even gravity wave beams were only avoided because he didn't want any accidents.
Joshua looked up in shock and doubt at Eagle, still floating in mid-air. This was the first time he had been so embarrassed. And at this moment, Joshua suddenly sensed an even greater crisis—the Fusion Core Heart furnace within him suddenly began to show emergency abnormal conditions. The furnace core began to spin uncontrollably rapidly, about to exceed its limit. In other words, the stable artificial star burning within him had begun to rapidly supernova. The energy released by nuclear fusion was several times more than before. If the warrior had not urgently taken over, reducing the furnace core's output, it would have exploded inside him immediately!
At that time, Joshua might not die, but he would definitely be distributed to every corner of the world. That was not funny at all.
"My body is collapsing... Wait, it's expanding!"
Clearly, Eagle's unknown attack had not yet ended. The steel giant, originally a hundred meters tall, began to inflate like a balloon. This was not a strengthening of power, but an expansion due to matter being unable to constrain its high-density form. Joshua stood still, suppressing all sorts of strange changes within his body, while striving to think about what was happening: "Can Eagle destroy the material structure within my body through particle streams? Molecular disintegration level attack?"
"No."
Joshua immediately noticed that this was not some special molecular disintegration strike. If it were, he would have been devoured by the Void Behemoth, which possessed similar means, long ago. This was a more fundamental, more terrifying power. It could even destroy matter close to white dwarf star material, and cause nuclear fusion reactions to produce abnormal errors.
Related to light?
A flash of inspiration suddenly struck the warrior's mind. He looked up at Eagle, who was watching him expressionlessly. The multicolored light sphere cluster floating behind the old Pope—that was the spectral incarnation of light. Originally, it had been huge, several hundred meters in length and width, with multicolored spectra flickering back and forth. But now, it had shrunk. The wavelength of light was one-fifth shorter than before. Joshua drew in a cold breath. He had found the answer, but this answer shocked him even more.
"You can control the speed of light!"
"Ah, Joshua, Joshua van Radcliffe. You never disappoint."
Looking at the shocked warrior, Eagle in mid-air could not help but curl his lips. He closed his eyes, then opened them again, his gaze full of joy. It was the joy of finally finding a kindred spirit, finally finding someone who could understand his power.
"You truly understand light."