Chapter 12: Legendary Magical Beast
Rumor has it that in the Central Black Forest of Mycroft, legendary-rank magical beasts dwell.
For centuries, such tales have always come from adventurers who ventured deep into the heart of the Black Forest. They would vividly boast of their experiences in taverns, narrating with absolute certainty their encounters with legendary magical beasts that could casually alter the weather and wield other such awe-inspiring powers.
But no one believes their stories. Everyone wears a dismissive smile, no matter how hard the storyteller tries to argue—because if they had truly encountered a legendary magical beast, how could they possibly still be alive? Everyone knows how terrifying the power of a legendary being is. It is an almost unstoppable force, like a natural disaster. If you encounter one, escape is utterly impossible.
Yet, if you shift the question and ask, "Do legendary magical beasts really exist?" then everyone will nod in unison without hesitation.
Of course they exist. The dozen or so large-scale battles and terrain changes in the history of the Black Forest's periphery stand as evidence of their clashes with civilization. Although the last invasion by a legendary magical beast was nearly three hundred years ago, their might has not been forgotten by the world.
From the perspective of those powerful beings who understand the true nature of legendary magical beasts and have even communicated with them, the adventurers who tell tales of these beasts are not lying. For these creatures are not mindless, bloodthirsty brutes. In truth, they are far more intelligent, far more cunning, and even more human than some humans themselves.
And now, standing before Joshua, was precisely such an existence.
Accompanied by ripples in space-time, a platinum-gold vine extended from a crack in the spatial rift. Pink and wine-red blossoms bloomed on this vine, and cyan-gold pollen drifted out from it, eventually coalescing in the air into a humanoid form. This form was initially blurry, but as the spatial rift widened, it quickly solidified into a figure both beautiful and fearsome.
The main body of the humanoid was a tangled mass of platinum-gold vines, forming the shape of a tall woman with a full and graceful figure. Vine-leaves composed her long hair, and a face coalesced upon her head—a standard Northern woman's face, beautiful by any measure. At first glance, it even possessed a certain exotic charm. But if one continued to observe, they would notice that both the woman's form and face were composed of countless writhing pollen grains and vines, constantly in motion, as if innumerable tiny lives had assembled into a larger image.
"Greetings, legendary human of the Northern lands."
The vine humanoid spoke politely, in standard Mycroft Common Tongue. It bowed to Joshua, and Joshua returned the gesture. Then, it introduced itself: "I am the Platinum Vine Mother—known to adventurers as the Platinum Empress, one of the guardians of the inner Black Forest."
The Vine Mother's words were simple and direct, with no roundabout pleasantries. It stated plainly: "According to the agreement, your cleansing of the Black Forest ends here. The chaotic aura in the inner Black Forest is too heavy. Even with purification, it will be unsuitable for human habitation for decades."
"Keep your offspring and those magical beasts in line. If they cause trouble, I will show no mercy."
This was Joshua's reply. He said nothing more, merely speaking flatly: "We have left you a habitat, and you should abide by the agreement, managing this 'garden' for us. I did not destroy the dwelling places of your descendants, but they are not having an easy time right now."
"Naturally. They will not complain."
Certain that the legendary being before her, who seemed ready to annihilate everything with a single gesture, would not continue to attack, the Platinum Vine Mother retracted her humanoid form, withdrawing her tendrils back through the spatial rift. A slightly distorted simulated voice came from the other side: "Ever since Ouroboros failed in its challenge to human authority, we have never again raised a hand against humanity. It seems now that this was the correct choice."
With that, the Platinum Vine Mother seemed unwilling to say more and closed the spatial rift.
Afterward, Joshua also ceased his work of overturning the Black Forest. He turned and looked at the vast expanse of land he had passed through—at the edge of his vision, everything was in chaos. Rivers were cut off, mountains had collapsed, forests and hills had turned into mud, and countless streams of blood mixed with turbid chaotic mana flowed across the surface. At the far edge of his sight, a raging fire spread without end—the result of the Black Dragon's blazing dragonflame. It would burn away all the filth, causing the former Black Forest to vanish completely from the world.
Within the Central Black Forest, there were eleven types of legendary magical beast descendants. Three of them were located near the direction of the Northern Empire: the Titan Dragonfly, the Boros Serpent, and the Platinum Demon Vine. The Titan Dragonfly, inheriting the power of the ancient Mountain Titans, was a giant insect magical beast capable of controlling the four elements. With a maximum body length exceeding forty meters and a wingspan reaching nearly fifty meters, it was the ultimate aerial predator. The Boros Serpent, on the other hand, possessed the ability to perform basic material transformation and condensation, enough to destroy any defensive line.
For these two types of legendary magical beast descendants, which had the potential to reach the Ultimate rank and whose strength upon advancement far exceeded that of ordinary Ultimate-rank magical beasts, the Empire's policy was to "preserve only basic samples" and exterminate all the rest, to avoid leaving future trouble. While overturning the land, Joshua had indeed paid special attention to the gathering places of these two types of beasts. After casually subduing the two pairs of beasts designated as basic samples, he had directly annihilated all the others.
But the Platinum Demon Vine was different. Because their progenitor, the legendary magical beast—or rather, magical plant—the "Platinum Vine Mother," still lived. For this super-lifeform, which had no record of harming humans and had extended its vines into the void beyond the world to directly absorb the energy radiation of the multiverse, all legendary experts showed a certain degree of respect.
According to the agreement between both sides, humans would not attack the Platinum Vine Mother or the other surviving legendary magical beast, "Prison Void Dragon Colorado," and would even reserve a habitat for them. In exchange, they must submit to human governance, restrain the remaining magical beasts in the Black Forest, and prevent them from rioting and affecting subsequent human development.
Both the Platinum Vine Mother and the Prison Void Dragon Colorado were super-lifeforms possessing intelligence surpassing that of ordinary humans. They naturally understood why humans did not kill them: because in the past three hundred years, they had not attacked the civilized world. Of course, the most important reason was still their strength. If the Platinum Vine Mother were to go all out, disregarding life and death, it could directly tear space and strike the main population centers of various countries. The Prison Void Dragon could even draw energy from the vacuum particle sea, accelerating and heating particles within an extremely wide range to extreme levels.
As long as there was no possibility of "instant kill," no one was willing to take the risk. Moreover, both legendary magical beasts had already proactively conveyed goodwill, so there was naturally no need to go to the point of life and death... After all, legendary magical beasts also wished to continue existing. Why would they insist on opposing humanity?
One must understand that for super-lifeforms of their level, their lifespans were already virtually infinite. The Platinum Vine Mother had even recently used a pollen avatar to walk among mortals. They naturally knew the current pace of human development and understood that humanity's goal was not merely a single world but the vast multiverse. The Vine Mother had even secretly held a brief discussion with Nostradamus and Israel. It would act, even dispatching its descendants to fully assist the Imperial Foreign Exploration Department in exploring other worlds. In exchange, the Empire would also attempt to spread its pollen and seeds.
This was far more efficient than having its main body drift through the void, relying on who-knows-how-long to chance upon a suitable world for reproduction.
Joshua was noncommittal about the agreement between both sides. As long as these magical beasts showed the slightest hint of malice, he would strike without hesitation. Although this would indeed cause significant losses, if these beasts were to suddenly attack while humans were off guard after half the agreement was fulfilled, the consequences would be even more severe. Now, with multiple legendary experts gathered, even if the legendary magical beasts wanted to resist, they would not be able to inflict the theoretical maximum damage.
As for whether these intelligent magical beasts could coexist with humans, Joshua did not doubt it. After all, aside from the Central Black Forest, there were other legendary magical beasts that had coexisted with humans for centuries, even leaving behind many hybrid descendants. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but turn his gaze toward the southern part of the world, where the Commercial Alliance was located.
The existence of the Commercial Alliance could be considered a miracle of the Mycroft World. Its founder, "Cretias," had excavated an ancient ruin from the Central Black Forest, obtaining immense wealth and various special magical item blueprints. At that time, the world was embroiled in war, and no one paid attention to Cretias's gains. He took his team incognito to the Far South Kingdom, obtained the title of Pioneer Knight from the kingdom, and then headed to the location of the Commercial Alliance, which was then a wild forest—a natural deep-water harbor surrounded by mountains, easy to defend and hard to attack.
Next, one would typically imagine a legendary tale of pioneering, full of pathos and heroism—Cretias, using the funds and wondrous tools from the previous era obtained through his adventures, successfully took root in the Black Forest and founded the prototype of the Commercial Alliance. During this period, there would likely be hundreds of thousands of words about political and military struggles with the Far South Kingdom, eventually achieving political independence... The history books do indeed write it this way. But in reality, the truth behind the story was distorted from the very beginning.
When Cretias arrived at the natural deep-water harbor he had long coveted, undiscovered by others, and destined to be his future foundation, he and his team were shocked to find that it was actually the dwelling place of a legendary magical beast. Every move they made had long been detected by this beast.
It was a legendary Dragon Whale, whose main body was as massive as a mountain. She had been basking in the sun in the nearby shallow sea for nearly forty years, looking from afar like a small island. That day, bored to the extreme, she had finished sunbathing and was returning to her nest—a huge underwater cave deep within the harbor—when she happened to discover a group of tiny people busily surveying the geographical data on the ground.
They were busy, they were enthusiastic, they laughed and talked loudly with each other, full of anticipation and confidence for the future.
So the Dragon Whale Empress let out an excited, long cry.
Meanwhile, Cretias, who was climbing a mountain peak to survey the surrounding terrain, heard that earth-shaking cry and immediately realized that a legendary magical beast was dwelling here. The feeling in his heart at that moment was indescribable. Setting aside his internal turmoil, in short, Cretias and his group immediately decided to leave as quickly as possible, lest they all perish there.
But how could a group of at most Gold-rank mortals escape the grasp of a legendary being? The Dragon Whale Empress effortlessly captured them, and then...
Then the Dragon Whale Empress took a liking to Cretias.
When Joshua first heard Nostradamus talk about this, he thought the old man was joking—like those boring rumors about the Old Pope's illegitimate child, the relationship between the Nature Mentor and the Empress, the fact that the Western Mountain Holy Sword Master didn't actually use a sword, that the Imperial Emperor wasn't really a Dragon Knight, and that he himself was a brutal lord who loved slaughtering demons and devouring magical beast flesh. All were just drunken boasts from who-knows-where. But seeing the old mage's serious expression, the warrior had to believe it was all true.
The Dragon Whale Empress, tired of her boring life, decided to take human form and experience human life with this group of adorable little people, trying to build a nation with them. And as she experienced it, she became the wife of the Commercial Alliance's founder, becoming the Alliance's Empress Dowager, who survives to this day. The Commercial Alliance, a small nation formed by countless merchants, artisans, and fishermen, still exists precisely because she serves as its backing.
To this day, the Dragon Whale Empress still resides in the underwater cave beneath the Commercial Alliance. She often takes human form and walks through the nation she and her former partners founded. Cretias and his team have long since passed away, but the Empress has not forgotten them. In the cemetery behind the Saint Louis Cathedral on the mountaintop of the Commercial Alliance, a lady with sea-blue long hair often appears.
She likes to watch the sea here, and she never gets tired of it, even after centuries.
As long as they are willing, legendary magical beasts can become members of human society. It was precisely because of the precedent set by the Dragon Whale Empress that the major powers did not insist on exterminating the Platinum Vine Mother and the Prison Void Dragon. Mycroft Civilization does not reject the inclusion of different species, as long as they are sincere and willing to become part of this collective.
At this moment, the Black Dragon and Chu Hao at the edge of his vision also slowly arrived. Joshua turned and flew toward them, briefly explaining the follow-up plan and the current boundaries of the Black Forest.
"And what about you, master?"
"Sizzle, sizzle sizzle sizzle?"
Upon hearing that her task was complete, the Black Dragon immediately transformed into human form and let out a long sigh—using Solar Ray to ignite the ground all the way had been incredibly tiring. Even with her ancient dragon bloodline, it was very taxing. Fortunately, the Black Forest was not lacking in combustible materials, and the fire would spread on its own. After igniting the key areas, she could leave it alone. Otherwise, the Black Dragon might have spent months and still not finished cleaning everything.
But then, she curiously asked, "Does that mean I don't have training today?"
"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten about your slacking off yesterday. Fine, you go back to the Northern lands first. Have Number 3 supervise you in completing the part you didn't finish last night. As for today's, consider it done."
Ignoring the Black Dragon's wail, Joshua said calmly, "As for me, after the other legendary experts finish their tasks, I will go with them to the center of the Black Forest to retrieve the Evil God's remains buried deep within."
"Sizzle?" (Is it dangerous?)
Beside him, Chu Hao asked with some concern: "Sizzle, sizzle sizzle, sizzle sizzle."
"It's just the remains of a Chaos being defeated by the Sage a thousand years ago. Part of its corpse turned into a continent and has been naturally decomposing all along. I'm not weak enough to be afraid of such a thing."
Patting Chu Hao's head in midair, Joshua said dismissively: "The Plenty Evil God is already dead. It's precisely because it's dead that it's worth studying."
When an orderly world perishes, it gives birth to an Evil God. And when a void Chaos Evil God dies, what does it transform into?
This was the real reason Joshua had taken on the task of cleansing the Black Forest and recovering the Plenty Evil God's corpse. The warrior, who had already nurtured a world embryo within his body, naturally wanted to know how order and Chaos transformed into each other, what the death of Steel Force would give birth to, and what the death of its remains would cause.
Joshua turned around, instructing the Black Dragon and Chu Hao to return as soon as possible. Then, he suppressed most of his power and approached the central region of the Black Forest.