Chapter 6: The Reborn "World" 5600
Joshua stepped out of the teleportation portal and returned to the Joint Research Institute within the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground.
This was a massive, semi-elliptical, pale blue building, five stories high and twenty-three meters tall. Its outer shell was made of living plants, grown by a Nature Mentor using legendary-rank animation magic.
Within the Joint Research Institute, many elemental puppets were diligently working. These energy lifeforms, provided by Baniel, were responsible for cleaning, transporting supplies, and other miscellaneous tasks, allowing the numerous researchers from the continent to work in peace. Upon noticing someone emerging from the portal, a water elemental puppet approached Joshua. Its constantly shifting surface rippled with layers of water patterns, forming a map of the institute, seemingly trying to guide the warrior.
"Thank you, but that's not necessary."
Joshua didn't need directions. His immensely powerful Steel Force vision could penetrate any thick wall and directly see his target. Strictly speaking, it wasn't penetration, because at this moment, Joshua was actually observing the world from a peculiar, top-down perspective. He could see the walls, the inside of the walls, and what was behind the walls simultaneously. Front, back, left, and right were all the same to him, with no distinction whatsoever.
Joshua saw the room where Lisa and the others were, and he walked directly towards it. The unconscious girl was in the rest area on the right side of the institute, a place usually with few people. But now, quite a few students from Winterfell Academy were gathered around the room, their faces filled with worry, seemingly discussing why Lisa had suddenly fainted.
The warrior could even hear waves of anxious electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere—it was Chu Hao, who was outside the institute, muttering to himself in concern for his friend.
"Ah! Dean!"
"The Lord is here!"
"Ah, Master, you've finally come."
"Good work." Joshua nodded to Ying and Lin, who were standing at the door greeting him. It was they who had promptly sent word to the warrior at the Holy Mountain Fortress. From the siblings, Joshua learned that the doctors in the institute had already performed emergency treatment for Lisa. However, because dragonmen weren't a native species of the Mycroft World, the physicians, who weren't Transcendents, were helpless. Clergy skilled in treating various unconventional ailments would need at least half a day to arrive.
Dismissing the many students gathered at the door, telling them to go about their business, Joshua entered the rest area directly.
Inside the rest area were six white hospital beds. The dragon-girl Lisa was lying on the one by the window. Two girls from the First Squad, Amira and Kaelin, who were somewhat acquainted with Lisa, were taking care of her. One was wiping Lisa's sweat with a towel, while the other was using a spell to monitor her physical condition.
"Heart rate is too fast! Two hundred and forty beats per minute, already far exceeding the limit!"
Amira, who was monitoring the data, turned pale. She said in a trembling voice, "Oh my god, it's still accelerating, almost reaching three hundred! Blood flow is also too fast. If this continues, Lisa's body won't be able to handle it!"
Although a Transcendent's body could maintain most of its combat effectiveness in extremely harsh external environments, if there was a problem internally, their endurance would be greatly reduced. As a Silver-rank Transcendent, Lisa's body, when going all out, could even withstand the depths of a volcano and temperatures of several hundred degrees that could melt some metals. But if something went wrong with her internal blood circulation, she would still suffer severe damage.
"Don't move rashly. If you act recklessly, you'll get hurt too."
Nearby, Kaelin was trying to use her mana to calm the increasingly violent blood circulation within Lisa's body, but a hand pressed down on her shoulder, interrupting the girl's action. Only then did Kaelin and Amira notice Joshua's arrival. They stood up in a fluster, intending to bow to their teacher, but Joshua gestured for them not to bother with formalities. He then turned his head to look at Lisa, who was unconscious on the bed, her face flushed red.
A faint silver light swirled in the warrior's eyes. The two girls beside him seemed to see an illusion for a moment: everything around them appeared transparent, revealing its internal structure. They thought they had just seen each other's bones and internal organs, even the direction of energy flow was perfectly clear.
After finishing his examination, Joshua nodded and said with understanding, "I see." He focused his gaze on the area below Lisa's sternum, where the dragon-girl's heart was located. In that spot, a pale shadow was squirming. It was compressing Lisa's heart, accelerating her blood circulation, and instinctively absorbing nutrients for itself.
"Teacher... what illness does Lisa have?"
Kaelin asked nervously from the side. Although the First Squad and Lisa were rivals, often bickering on the forum and taunting each other with things like "You're so bad" or "Five of you fought me and I still killed you all, can you even play?", in reality, as fellow students of Joshua, their relationship was much better than most people imagined. The three girls even went shopping for clothes together privately.
"It's nothing serious."
Reaching out, Joshua placed his hand on Lisa's forehead. A gentle silver light flowed from his hand as he casually replied, "She ate too well, had too many nutrients. The Flame Demon inside her just proliferated a bit."
Kaelin and Amira: "???"
Although the two girls didn't understand what he meant, Joshua knew this really wasn't a big deal. Lisa's fainting, though seemingly sudden and critical, was simply because the soul of the Flame Demon Syndicate, who had been coexisting with her, had fully healed after a long period of rest, and its body had begun to grow naturally.
During the final battle in the Chronos World, Lisa and Syndicate had jointly burned their bloodline and soul, temporarily severing the Steel Force chains that bound the Thunder Ancient Dragon to the world. As a result, the two had merged in a peculiar way. Lisa acted as the main body, while the severely injured Syndicate existed as a dependent, clinging to the girl's residual energy.
But recently, probably because the holy artifact 'Water Droplet' that Joshua had taken from the Midgard civilization and placed in the center of Moldavia was too effective, or perhaps because the Flame Demon race inherently possessed extremely strong self-healing abilities, Syndicate's previous injuries had healed, and its body had begun to grow naturally. Its physical form instinctively absorbed energy, causing the main body, Lisa, to suffer from energy deficiency and faint, taking the Flame Demon with her.
"Speaking of which, the Flame Demon race has no upper limit to its growth. I recall records from the Church of the Seven Gods mentioning Flame Demon Lords hundreds of meters tall... Fortunately, Syndicate won't grow that big anytime soon."
Joshua recalled information about the Flame Demon race. The situation wasn't as serious as imagined. Resolving it was simple: just sever the connection between the two and extract Syndicate from Lisa's body.
"I'll need to design a new body for him too."
The warrior thought somewhat casually, "Even a white Flame Demon is still a Flame Demon. It might cause panic in the territory... probably."
Joshua wasn't entirely sure about this, because several heads of high-level magical beasts hung above the main city gates of Moldavia. Hei often appeared in the city center in her Ancient Dragon form, and the citizens weren't surprised or afraid. Would a Flame Demon really scare them? But it was better to be cautious, just in case.
By this time, the warrior had almost completely scanned the situation inside Lisa's body. The symbiosis between Lisa and Syndicate originated from a soul entanglement caused by a demonic contract. Initially, Syndicate was weaker, so it was suppressed by Lisa's power. But now, as a former Ultimate-rank expert, the Flame Demon was beginning to recover its strength, causing the dragon-girl, as the main body, to suffer backlash from the contract's power. This was why she had been unconscious for so long—mere energy issues wouldn't have stumped the institute's doctors.
"Demonic contract? Isn't that very troublesome?"
Ying, who had snuck into the rest area and had been watching from behind the warrior, blinked. After hearing Joshua's muttering, she frowned and said, "I remember you said, Master, that this was essentially an oath sworn to the Abyss where the demon was born... Ah."
The silver-haired girl let out a short gasp because, just then, Joshua had severed the demonic contract. The process was as light and effortless as cutting butter with a hot knife—no Abyssal power leaked out, and there was none of the legendary backlash.
As for the so-called contract power, Joshua naturally didn't care about it at all. His power far exceeded the combined total of the Flame Demon and Lisa, and even the entity to which the oath was sworn—the Abyss where the Flame Demon was born—might not be able to overpower the current warrior. The moment the contract was completely severed, the wills of the dragon-girl and the Flame Demon awakened almost simultaneously.
"Ah... my head hurts... and my chest feels so tight!"
Propping herself up with one hand on the bed and pressing her forehead with the other, Lisa sat up with a pained expression, looking bewildered. "An unfamiliar ceiling... Huh, wasn't I touring the sacrificial ground's abandoned energy core? How did I end up here?"
"I was just posting on the forum, how did I faint too?" Syndicate was also quite puzzled.
But soon, both noticed Joshua standing nearby. Without much ado, Joshua explained their current situation.
"Mr. Syndicate is going to have a body? Great, great!"
Lisa was naturally happy about this. In fact, she had always felt guilty, thinking she had let down the Flame Demon who had helped her. After all, her former tribe had found the Flame Demon's body and forged it into a weapon, and she had promised to help it restore its power, but until recently, nothing had been accomplished.
The Flame Demon, however, remained silent for a long time. It wasn't until Joshua repeated his question, asking if it needed his help to create a body, that Syndicate seemed to snap out of it and responded with a rather complex tone, "Thank you, my Lord. It's just... I didn't expect to get a new body so soon. I wasn't prepared."
"Heh..."
Compared to Ying, Lin, Kaelin, Amira, and Lisa, who were still confused, Joshua saw through Syndicate's thoughts at a glance. Although he wasn't particularly sensitive to emotions, the warrior wasn't blind. So, he spoke to the Flame Demon through his mind: "With a body, you can accompany her properly and protect her better... What's there to hesitate about? Do you plan to be a pendant for the rest of your life, hiding inside a little girl's body?"
Syndicate's anxious thoughts were just a minor interlude. Soon, Joshua separated its main body from beside Lisa's heart.
The process was simple. In one-tenth of a second, Joshua cut through Lisa's clothes, skin, flesh, and bones. Then, before her nerves could react, he extracted the white Flame Demon's main body and used Steel Force to instantly heal the skin, flesh, and bones.
This major surgery, which would have taken an ordinary doctor at least several hours, was completed by the warrior in the blink of an eye. Everyone's vision blurred, and then they saw a white, semi-energy, semi-solid blob in Joshua's right hand. Lisa widened her eyes, looked at her chest, which no longer felt tight, and then at the blob in her teacher's hand. She opened her mouth slightly and exclaimed, "This, this is..."
This was the main body of the Flame Demon Syndicate—a shapeless, high-level lifeform similar to a high-elemental slime but far superior in essence. Born in an Abyss filled with poison and radiant high temperatures, it was a Flame Demon that destroyed everything. Born in a thundercloud filled with lightning and electromagnetism, it was the incarnation of heavenly punishment. It could become a Holy Light Lord filled with radiance, healing all things, or the protector of forests and mountains, the guardian of nature.
Now, this seemingly elastic, glowing blob was pulsating like a heart. Syndicate was waiting for its master to reshape its body.
But Joshua didn't act immediately... Extracting the Flame Demon wasn't difficult, but creating a suitable body for it was a problem.
Although the warrior had long known how to create things and could easily manufacture a living, active body, and he himself could regenerate at will with a vitality comparable to immortality, that was because his body was an aggregation of Steel Force, a condensation of his power, so it could naturally regenerate freely. But if it was someone else's body, especially a peculiar high-level lifeform like the Flame Demon's main body, some special trace elements were needed as auxiliary materials.
Joshua sensed his surroundings. His mind swept across half of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground. Clearly, this plane didn't contain those peculiar trace elements that probably only existed in the Abyss, the Flame Demon's homeland.
"Master, do you need me to notify those researchers?"
Beside him, Lin, who had snuck into the rest area with Ying, spoke up. The black-haired boy could tell his master was pondering a problem, because Joshua had mentioned similar issues when creating things in the past. "This is the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground. It's convenient to go anywhere."
"No need."
Joshua shook his head. "There's no need for such trouble."
Just some peculiar trace elements. It wasn't like he couldn't synthesize them from nothing. After all, even special world-exclusive substances were composed of Steel Force; it was just a bit troublesome to manifest them... But in reality, the warrior wouldn't even have that trouble, because when he first mastered the power of creation, he had prepared for situations like this.
Slightly raising his head, looking towards the direction of the Mycroft World, Joshua silently called out in his heart: "Light, come!"
And so, accompanied by a tinkling sound, a perfectly round sphere of light materialized out of thin air in Joshua's left hand!
Xiao Guang's appearance completely surprised everyone. Except for Joshua, everyone stared blankly at the light sphere that had appeared out of nowhere, speechless. But in reality, this was perfectly normal. After all, Xiao Guang was an avatar of a nascent World Will. Having devoured quite a few Steel Force fragments, its own authority already surpassed that of most Transcendents. What was so strange about it knowing teleportation?
According to Joshua's tests, Xiao Guang could now even teleport people with it and then freely return them to their original coordinates. This teleportation completely ignored spatial barriers and could even cross worlds... Of course, the prerequisite was that Xiao Guang knew the corresponding coordinates, such as Joshua's location, with which it had a deep connection.
"Here, create seventeen standard units of Abyss R3 element, and twenty-three standard units of Abyss G element."
Joshua didn't waste words. He directly instructed it to create. After a cheerful 'tinkle tinkle', Xiao Guang, just like Joshua used to create things, materialized a pile of shimmering, magical-looking powder in mid-air.
Then, using these elements as a core, the warrior generated a semi-energy body similar to Syndicate's main body out of thin air. The mass of this body was similar to that of an average human.
"Next, Syndicate, just imitate whatever body you want. I imagine it won't be difficult for you."
After doing this, Joshua threw the still-dazed Syndicate's main body, which seemed not to have reacted yet, into the glowing mass. It directly merged into it, and the large light mass began to deform rapidly. After finishing this, Joshua turned and left decisively with Ying, Lin, and Xiao Guang. What happened next was a private matter between Syndicate and Lisa; as an elder, he didn't need to interfere.
Compared to the romantic life of the younger generation, he was more interested in Xiao Guang's proficient creation speed.
"Not bad, Xiao Guang. It seems the Steel Force fragments I fed you weren't wasted. If we keep this up, there will definitely be more gains."
He praised the light sphere, causing it to bounce excitedly. But then, Joshua's action made Xiao Guang stop bouncing and float dumbly in mid-air.
Because the warrior had taken out a fragment glowing with a purple-blue light from somewhere—a Steel Force fragment from the Siberia World, possessing the authority of 'Unconditional Enhancement'!
"Here, for you."
Joshua smiled and handed the Steel Force fragment to Xiao Guang, watching it excitedly swallow it into its body.
After multiple trips to other worlds and exchanges with many Steel Serpents, Joshua now had a considerable understanding of the existence known as World Will.
Xiao Guang's main body, the Light Humanoid in the Bloodmoon Abyss, was undoubtedly the Abyss Will of that Abyss. Unlike ordinary Abyss Wills, due to the self-sacrificial act of the Hilai civilization before its destruction, all their vitality and souls had turned into the Bloodmoon, becoming the embryo that nurtured the Light Humanoid, providing it with a physical entity in the material world.
And Xiao Guang, as its offshoot—or rather, a communication platform placed beside Joshua—was essentially a materialized World Will (nascent form). Compared to those mature Steel Serpents, it was probably just lacking in basic accumulation. After all, the Bloodmoon Abyss had been destroyed, its continent shattered into countless floating islands, and its authority was nearly gone.
The Steel Force fragments Joshua had fed Xiao Guang for fun had actually provided immense help and supplement for its growth, making the World Will's authority increasingly powerful. This could be seen from Xiao Guang's increasingly proficient creation and elemental conversion abilities, as well as its newly acquired teleportation ability... Joshua knew his efforts wouldn't be in vain. The help brought by Xiao Guang's growth was far greater than those few Steel Force fragments that could at most create a few Ultimate-rank experts.
After all, it was a 'world' itself, in the process of being reborn.
"Eat, mature, grow up."
Patting the top of Xiao Guang, which was digesting the Siberia World fragment, Joshua narrowed his eyes slightly. A silver light flickered in his gaze. Ying and Lin followed at his side. The warrior smiled and whispered to himself, "Only when you truly grow up and mature can you become my real help."
And Xiao Guang seemed to have heard Joshua's whisper. Its core rotated, emitting a faint, barely perceptible, peculiar sound. It wasn't the tinkling sound it usually used, and the sound was masked by the hum of the light sphere's energy circulation.
But if anyone could hear and understand it, they would grasp the meaning of this sound—it was a clear, bell-like tone mixed with the common language of the Mycroft World, yet somewhat similar to the sound of wind chimes. It was the unique language of Light, and its meaning was simple.
"Yes, Father."