Soul of Searing Steel
chapter-19

In the presence of glowing red light, the war hammer spun violently like a high-speed circular saw. It was spinning so fast that it appeared like a blurry circular object flying across the hall. Then it landed right on the shield of a warrior in heavy armor who managed to raise his large shield up to block in time. Although he did not fall to the ground after holding his ground against the impact of that strike, his hands were trembling so violently from the impact for holding his shield against the war hammer. As his hands were trembling so violently, the warrior could no longer hold his shield properly with his numbed hands. In order to hold himself against the tremendous force that was pushing him back, he began to take a step back, one at a time, until he was pushed against the wall right behind him. Having no other way out, he was forced to take on the full impact of this strike. The warrior clenched his teeth hard. Blood started to spill from the side of his mouth. Instantly, the wall behind the warrior cracked into web-shaped patterns. Meanwhile, the spinning war hammer had plunged itself into the shield's center.

At the same time, Joshua rushed into the formation of the mercenaries that were partially scattered. He reached out one of his hands and grabbed onto the neck of a Silver-tier warrior wearing plate armor. Without using much strength, he easily lifted the poor warrior up, choking him. The poor warrior was struggling so hard to break free from his grip. However, Joshua's strength was strong enough to crush solid rocks and the skulls and bones of orcs like they were nothing. So the warrior was just as weak as a newborn chicken in Joshua's grip. Now that Joshua's strength had been amplified over a few times, he could now easily crush anyone that was Silver tier.

Having difficulty in killing the warrior, Joshua grabbed onto the right leg of the warrior and used him as a weapon. He began to swing the dead body around in a circle. Instantly, the formation of the knights was swept clean. The formation that was formed from nearly twenty Silver-tier warriors was easily broken by Joshua.

"Pathetic! You're just pathetically weak!"

After whirling the dead body of the warrior like a whirling a huge weapon for a few rounds, Joshua laughed out loud. After that, he tossed the dead body aside, out of his hands. Of course, the warriors that were standing in the line of fire quickly dodged to the side. That large man with his full set of heavy armor weighed approximately four hundred pounds. Followed by a loud bang and a violent tremor, the cracked walls of the count's mansion was completely demolished by the impact of the dead body tossed out by Joshua. A large hole appeared right on the wall. Bricks and rubble of the wall fell and buried the dead warrior and the one with a shield.

Now, it was merely eight seconds since Joshua started his onslaught. Six of the mercenaries were dead. Judging from the current situation, Joshua should be able to slaughter the remaining warriors before his [Divine Power] form ran out of time.

Meanwhile, the warriors of the White Dragon Mercenaries still couldn't believe their own eyes even though they have just witnessed everything.

They were deemed to be the best among the best. The entire group only consist of at least Silver-tier warriors after all. Their weapons were much better than others as well. Each of them was equipped with good armor. Not only they were capable of laying siege to a city, they were capable of hunting a giant dragon! And now, the entire White Dragon group could not even take down the enemy right before them— one man?!

How was that possible?! Even the most absurd knight's novel would not have such a story that would contradict with regular people's common sense. What an incredible development!

Well, their heads were in the right place though. The situation was just unbelievable.

However, Joshua did not need anyone to understand!

Picking up anything from the ground, no matter it was the weapon, the shield, people's dead bodies or a rock, Joshua was moving extremely fast. At the same time, he was throwing whatever he grabbed towards his enemies at a speed where the 'projectiles' were thrown out faster than the arrows getting shot out of a heavy crossbow. Because those 'projectiles' were thrown out at a speed where normal people could not see, the remaining knights could only attempt blocking anything that came at them. They did not even get the chance to get back into formation.

"Argh! Monster! Die!"

A raging roar suddenly echoed across the hall. Initially, the entire hall had was engulfed by a blazing red aura. However, a new aura suddenly appeared in the same hall. A green radiance was suddenly unleashed by one of the mercenaries that was pushed to the edge. His entire body was blazing in flames, rippling back and forth across the surface of his body.

Among the entire White Dragon mercenary group, only three of them were Upper Silver tier. The ranger was already dead. Meanwhile, their captain could not even react to anything before he was punched to death. So this mercenary seemed to be the last one who appeared to have Combat Aura that could affect the outcome of the situation.

Combat Aura, also known as ripple, blazing flames or a flare, was the energy that was born from training one's physical body to the limit. It had no physical shape. It could only circulate within a person's body. However, it can flare if it combined with a warrior's will. It was a miraculous power that could be seen by the naked eye. Well, it would be just like the rippling layer of light that was going back and forth across the surface of Joshua and that warrior's entire body.

It could enhance the strength of the body and alter the situation at will. By some, it was deemed as the third arm of a warrior, an extraordinary beginning. Only Upper Silver tier warriors could perform all these. Only they could enhance their own attributes so much within a brief period of time.

The air in the surroundings began to circulate rapidly. Under the leadership of that Upper Silver-tier warrior, the mercenaries managed to recover from the mess they fell into. They once again stood back up on their feet and regained their morale. One after another they roared. Their bodies swelled little by little as their strength within them began to be unleashed. They were all charging towards Joshua with everything they've got; after today's battle, no matter who won by the end of it, those men would need to rest over half a month before they could recover back to their former state.

However, their target had vanished from their sight once again.

"What just happened? Where did he go?!"

Everyone panicked as they began to look around. However, they reacted almost at the same instant on the next moment—Joshua was right above them!

They lifted their heads immediately, however, it was too late for them. Just when the mercenaries were raising their weapons and shields up getting ready to strike, a violent quake shook the hall, followed by an extremely loud noise. The ceiling on the first floor of the count's mansion crumbled into rubble before collapsing on the mercenaries. Rock and countless furniture fell upon the mercenaries along with the rubble.

Before the mercenaries could get themselves out of the sticky situation, a figure radiating in red aura revealed himself from among the collapsed debris. Joshua aimed at the Upper Silver-tier warrior who unleashed Combat Aura earlier and charged straight at him!

Well, that Upper Silver-tier warrior was indeed an experienced warrior who fought hundreds of battles. He saw through Joshua's intention the moment he noticed Joshua's presence. Meanwhile, his current state allowed him to barely keep up with Joshua's speed. So he swung out the long sword in his hand and roared in rage, "Today, I must kill…"

"Three."

Before that warrior could finish what he wanted to say, he heard a cold voice that seemed to be announcing something. His face changed in an instant; he had noticed Joshua's shadow that he had been trailing doggedly, vanishing without a trace. At the very next moment, he could feel a red radiating light invading his space. His five senses were completely blinded by an absolute force that was directed at him. An ear-piercing supersonic sound announced the appearance of an intimidating, large figure!

Bam!

His sight turned pitch black in an instant. His blood began to ooze out nonstop. The Upper Silver-tier warrior's eyes almost popped like the eyes of a dead fish, his mouth agape with disbelief. Looking at his chest, all he could see was a fist glowing red was plunged in deep. It went straight in and crushed his stomach and torso. Even his spine was about to be blown right out of his body.

"Two."

After removing his fist out of the chest of that warrior, that Upper Silver-tier warrior began to lose consciousness. Following the countless visible shockwaves that ripple along the air, Joshua had once again vanished from everyone's sight. His body instantly appeared right by the side of the other mercenaries who were still turning their heads around to look for him.

Snatching a long sword from one of the mercenaries, Joshua broke the neck of that knight with a karate chop. Then he clenched his fist and flung it back at the other mercenary's face who was attempting to attack him from behind. A powerful impact went straight through the armor made of steel, shocking the mercenary's weak body and made him faint on the spot. At the same time, his hand that was holding the long sword did not stop there. Joshua lowered his body by squatting down a little. Then he began sweeping the sword at the legs of mercenaries around him. With the blazing aura of his movement, the sharp blade that he was wielding cut right through the leggings forged from steel and the lined leather armor made of orc skins with ease. The blade also managed to cut off the legs that the legging armor and the leather armor were supposed to protect.

Right after that, Joshua stood up immediately and did a spin. He was like a whirlwind, swinging the sword in his hand towards the neck of another mercenary ready to take another life.

"One."

Well, even steel could not stop the blade of the sword from cutting through. So how could muscle and flesh withstand the strike then? Because of Joshua's aura, the eyes of the mercenaries that were hit by Joshua's sword were blinded. Blood splattered from their necks and their bodies slowly fell onto the ground one after another. After that, they did not stand up again. At the same time, the sword that Joshua was holding could not withstand the overwhelming burden and broke in half.

On the seventeenth second of [Divine Power], Joshua counted to three. Thirteen of the mercenaries were now dead. Only six of them remained because they were further away from Joshua. They could not even react to the situation after witnessing all of it happening in front of their eyes. How could the battle be over so quickly?! It was not even twenty seconds yet— they could not even get themselves to think what they should do after that. They were just staring at the gruesome remains of their comrades that were splattered on the ground in the hall. Joshua was just standing among all those dead bodies with his body glowing red.

"There's still eight seconds left, seven seconds… Well, it's time I wrap this up."

Joshua took a deep breath. He let loose his tired muscles for which he overstressed for unleashing his power just now. Then he spoke with a tone of regret, "Enough with the warm-ups. You're good, not bad at all."

After a brief moment of rest, Joshua once again charged towards his remaining enemies. That was his final charge. His entire body was once again enveloped in a red aura. Meanwhile, the faces of his enemies were white as a sheet. They could only raise their weapons and try to fight back.

Boom!

With a violent turmoil and the deafening sound of rumbling, the mansion sounded like it was crying. The sturdy structure of the mansion that could withstand cannon attacks was shaking repeatedly. It seemed like the foundation of the mansion was shaken by some horrific event. The glass in the mansion shattered into pieces as red light broke out of the windows. The first half of the count's mansion slowly collapsed. That part of the hall was turned into ruins, burying all the other knights underneath its rubble.

No, there was one man that was not buried.

Bit by bit he rose from the ash and rubble above him. Right behind him was the building gradually collapsing. He turned his back on the ruin stood in the middle of the ground covered by snow.

Joshua.