Soul of Searing Steel
chapter-523

Helm the Demon General did not catch Joshua's words—before the sound came to him, a balrog greatsword that was tens of thousands degrees hot, cutting through air that was heated up to thousands of degrees at some unknown point in time as well as a vacuum track as it streaked towards it right before it eyes!

Like a cyclone that engulfs the four seas or a falling star, there was a visible bolt darting across the sky. Air was ignited while oxygen incinerated—against the giant sword that shot towards it, the weapon itself melted into a cluster of red-gold that could strike a hole even through a mountain, Helm did not even dodge.

Staring at the blade, the Demon General snorted as the shell over its shoulders splitting out a small crack in the thousandth of a second. Hot, crimson light shot out from within and struck the tip of the balrog greatsword as the same monumental power slanted its trajectory—in an instant, a meteor was visibly deflected by a thin line back to the other end of the sky. The clouds thus parted as a huge cavity was struck within the heavens.

However, unlike what it expected, that was not the end. Having parried the blow, Helm suddenly noticed that there was still a pair of iron fist following tightly behind the greatsword!

After Joshua threw out the greatsword, his foot stomped down violently and swiftly followed behind his own weapon as it reached the demon. The warrior was completely unmoved at the thousand-eyed demon's startled gaze, and with the explosion of the air as it was torn apart, a pair of iron fists, wrapped around by Steel Strength armor turned abruptly into thousands of phantom punches that blasted at the demon!

Pow-pow-pow-pow-pow!

Ten hits, hundred hits, thousand hits! Each strike broke apart air current and created a blast comparable to falling meteors, with air hundreds of meters around swept away in no time at all by the shockwaves. Before the fist up front could send the demon flying, the fist behind had already caught up!

Helm could not actually cry out in anguish before its body was bombarded upwards and yet not sent flying. Then, finally, with a roaring bellow from Joshua, a heavy fist landed on its abdomen, the full-powered blow directly repelling air itself and launching a white circular wave of air from behind the Demon General's back. Dozens of meteor-sized craters immediately surfaced upon the mountainous walls behind, as if pummeled by gigantic, invisible fist by the residual strength of the punches!

Under such terrifying strikes, even sound had lost its conducting medium as a horror silence engulfed the land, but in the very next moment, a sporadic cry as if a flute wafted as the Demon General's body finally darted into a flaming meteor and struck the center of the wall heavily. As if the straw that broke the camel's back, the entire wall shattered and crumbled with a loud bang!

Boom! Like a collapsing mountain, the sturdy walls of the Black Blood Fortress turned into endless shards that buried Helm. And where the Demon General was, sanguine mist boiled in the air—it was its blood, and precisely the sound of blood mist flowing.

However, no one was minding the Demon General. Black, the insectoid-demon Guwaganda and every remaining demon troop stared astonishedly at Joshua. It was as if the black armor was the center of the world that attracted everyone's gaze.

Who is he?! The insectoid-demon stared in shock above the Black Blood Fortress. It watched in disbelief as its own master was sent flying with relative ease, and though General Helm was not famous for melee it should not be that simple since it was a demon.

However, before it could sum up its thoughts, something happened again and the demon's thoughts were cut short.

At the moment, after a brief adjustment, Joshua moved decisively again. He accelerated in the air, darting towards the wall debris with no hesitation. The warrior did not intend to leave his opponent any chance to rest or recover its injuries—he was prepared to send it straight to hell with one blow!

That was his battle style! Going all out, never hesitating, blowing out full power on the start and subjugating the enemy until they died!

Boom! As the warrior accelerated, searing cyclone unfurled as a large layer of sparks kicked up in the atmosphere around them. It was the phenomenon of dust being burnt in incredible heat, and between flashes of ions, Joshua had already arrived before the wreck, his life vision able to easily see through and pick out the Demon General that was swiftly regenerating itself under the ruins. Without a word, the warrior clenched his fist by his hip before striking out!

As if a hot knife to butter, any matter in his way was as fragile as paper to Joshua while his body now burnt with flames near thousands of degrees. In the thousandth of a second, he broke through the protection of the debris and smashed a fist on the demon's general face even it looked on bewilderment!

Pow! Dozens of eyeballs exploded into pulp and were burnt into ash by the searing warmth. The Demon General was once again thrown away despite its rage, blasting through the fortress walls and into the fort itself, and with incessant crumbling sounds, it fell at least a dozen buildings, scraping out a long lava trail where it passed.

It was certainly wretched. If it had been a typical lifeform the battle should have ended, but Helm was ultimately a demon. Even if the warrior's severe punches broke dozens of its eyes it did not hurt anything vital. As it growled in rage out of humiliation, countless little fissures that resembled scars appeared over Helm's back as a streak of crimson energy ejected out, softening the incredible blow and slowing it down.

What the fuck kind of a monster is that!? It thought in immeasurable rage as it buffed itself albeit in slight astonish. Actually completely holding me down in physical combat?! Is that some human-shaped Void Behemoth?!

On the other hand, Joshua did not keep up his pursuit as he himself suffered a few blows from the demon in return—three rays that were condensed to the very limit hit his right wrist the moment his fist came in contact with the demon and slit his entire right fist off, with a clear scar of being cut visible on his neck too. Golden molt dripped, but he withdrew his fist, seemingly not minding it at all. Reaching out with his left thumb and rubbing his neck while simply pressing his wrist back into it, there was a sound of steel being welded, and soon the cut on his armor's neck disappeared entirely while the wrist was reattached anew.

Becoming Legendary was the first step in becoming a deity.

Without words or interaction, the warrior's body vanished in the very next moment and reappeared right in front of the Demon General. As he moved, it was as if the thousands of meters in distance did not exist between the city wall and the center of the fortress did not exist at all—neither did he leave any sign. The warrior lashed out with a knifehand strike that instantly swung out like a giant axe to cut mountains, but exuded a monumental pressure directly as if a falling peak even before it hit.

However, the Demon General that also reacted did not hesitate. It met it head on as Helm showed its ability as Monarch and completely followed Joshua's movements. The black shell over its entire body had already become red-gold as if magma against Joshua's chop, the arm that it reached out with broke out countless cracks with almost hundreds of razor-sharp rays spraying out in an instant!

To Helm, an ascended beholder, its entire body was natural weapons, while it could eject its energy away from any corner of its body and kill enemies of any form in any angle. It had already noted that its rays could lacerate the warrior's body, which was why it was brave enough to face its opponent head-on.

But how fast was the reaction speed of a Legendary warrior? Joshua, having fought countless demons could read the current standoff so well it was almost as if he was predicting the future. It already knew what Helm planned when he saw it raise its arms, and simply waved his right arm and turned the chop into a parry to shove the Demon General's hand away. In that instant, searing rays sprayed and struck the ground into an unfathomably deep lava cavity!

Pow-pow-pow-pow-pow! The dull sound of flesh rang, with Joshua and Helm having exchanged dozens of blows in that very instant. Among the two, one was a Legendary warrior who transcended a thousand battlefields while the other was a Demon General that had survived the Abyss for a thousand years through slaughter, their combat experience so rich it exceeded the depths of that which was inconceivable. Both could tell the other's moves the instant either shifted its posture, while their bodies could exceed common sense and freely bend, ignore joints or recoil in an exchange that even Mastery of Technique did not earn it justice. Beneath their feet, the sturdy surface of the Black Blood Fortress shattered one by one, crumbled and caving in. Endless large boulders too were blown airborne amidst the fight, shooting out everywhere like missiles!

Ka-boom! Gale roared as two boulders struck the metallic tracks around the Black Blood Fortress, promptly bending and collapsing the superweapon that flashed in thick mana bolts. The charging crystals beneath the tracks too completely exploded, unleashing magical fluorescence that covered more than half the fortress.

Mysteriously, the insectoid-demon that had been on top of the fort had vanished at some point in time—it appeared to have escaped.

At the heart of the fort, every building had fallen. With the whirling of two completely invisible shadows, the ground and debris blew up through the air as streaks of rays and formidable punches blasted ground and sky, dispersing clouds and trembled the surface.

Nevertheless, after parrying a horizontal slash from Helm, Joshua's demeanor suddenly changed. His style thus became decisive and vicious, for he had seen through every change and defensive loophole in its foe's fighting style. With the great hum as if liquid pressure, a scarlet light shone abruptly on the warrior's right hand as if molten metals—ignoring the defending rays that were slashing towards his own arm, the fist thundered towards that chin of Helm's that was filled with eyes in an upward hook!

The fist boomed, unfurling vacuum! In that moment of fatality, Joshua unleashed all his bodily restraints to pour tons of weight on that one fist, accelerating it with monumental strength. That strike truly had the power to move mountains!

Meanwhile, unlike before, the cutting rays scraped with noises that made teeth ache. Red fist shattered Helm's defense, and, as if astonished in that very instant, the Demon General threw its hand as if to parry—but could such power be diverted under such a brief instance? In no time at all, its brain and a multitude of eyes were broken, throwing pulps of bizarre colors everywhere while the demon's body was thrown in the sky by the impact, breaking open the clouds!

But just as it did, it spoke!

"Hahahaha, foolish idiot! You've fallen into my trap!"

Helm laughed maniacally above as it used the strike to escape, its brain rapidly healing as flesh squirmed—since when did anyone mention that beholders' vitals were their eyes? And after fighting for so long, even a fool could tell that most beings could not stand up to the armored demon in a melee. In reality, it had fought the warrior to wait as his lackey, the insectoid demon Guwaganda activated the final preparations of enemy countermeasures the Black Blood Fortress!

The Black Blood Fortress was Helm's only territory that was nearest to the Nether River and the core domain of the thousand-eyed demon, hosting the otherworld superweapon [Magnetic Field Shift Cannon] and an energy core that kept the whole fortress running! Just now, it used one out of its thousand pairs of eyes to watch as the insectoid demon discreetly left the outskirts of the fortress, meaning that all procedures had been finished!

At the moment, in the core of the fortress, Joshua frowned and looked around amidst sharp sounds that pricked the ear. Thick bolts of sanguine lightning had already formed into a cage and bound him within as the warrior sensed that his body was being held down by an incredible electromagnetic shackle. Knowing that it was the overloaded burst of an energy core, Joshua looked up to find streaks of corrupt and evil runic circles beginning to surface around Helm, with a sanguine radiance being within its embrace. He could sense the power within that could destroy worlds!

Unusual but minuscule tremors emanated—the sound of metal being torn apart. As a Demon General that had ascended from a beholder, Helm's innate talent was to unleash different ray magic. The study over thousand of years had fused its magic with its body, and, with the demon's natural physicality, there was nothing it could not do whether if it was in a melee or spellcasting fight. Though it lost out to the warrior in melee tactics, it certainly had formidable ability!

Under the control of the Demon General, the circle adjusted its position, with an even more terrifying pressure falling just as it whirled slowly. Joshua could sense an invisible bind targeting his body, as if it was the stare of some frightening beast or the target lock of the most dangerous weapon!

And in the very next moment, the real offensive descended!

Bzzt—

As bloody radiance descended, oxygen in the atmosphere was ignited by searing heat into burning flames and plasma. Matter began collapsing from its fundamentals so that blinding flash swirled in the sky above. Helm was roaring in rage within a blazing vacuum as scarlet cracks that resembled wounds appeared over its body, ejecting golden light from its body. Then, after circling alongside the densely packed runes, the gales rapidly assembled while a fission ray that could tear apart matter ejected!

Boom!

In that brief second, Joshua could sense nothing—not even sound or color as the tremendous energy blast rolled out before him. What he saw in the end was a solar storm that blanketed the world and fell from the skies above.

It was both a brief moment and an eternity. With a blinding flash, a bowl-shaped energy shield slowly spread and shaped into a single facula. In seconds, a giant mushroom cloud rose slowly. As if wiped away from the surface of the earth, the entire Black Blood Fortress vanished entirely.

It's over. The demon thought. Exhausting all efforts and paying a considerable price, but the difficult foe is finally killed.

Helm also reflected that allowing him to close in for a melee was a mistake; the demon itself had become prideful following years of continuous victories. It forgot that each Monarch walked out of blood and fire, and none of them could easily be handled. A split second mistake, and it could only employ the self-destruct ability of the Black Blood Fortress magic core to kill him. If the distance was just a little further, kiting would have been a lot easier.

The densely packed runes that circled around the Demon General dissipated, but its heart was still with irritation. Its domain was virtually wiped out while the core of the Black Blood Fortress had accompanied the enemy in death—such a huge price had been paid just to kill a clone of their opponent, what Legendary champion would be killed so easily after all? Unless the other's true form is found, killing the incarnation of an extraordinary body that walks the mortal realm was truly meaningless, although their opponent would know of their own power that way and would not try to disturb them.

But suddenly, just as the demon general calculated its loses, the earth trembled.

Helm looked down in surprise and doubt. Its thousand eyes stared towards the surface, while the fires and mushroom cloud of the Fission Ray was still slowly ascending. Then, a pair of the demon's eyes subconsciously noticed the other end of the Nether River—a black dragon over there, appearing to have sensed something, was running towards the distance as if to evade something horrible.

And the instant it was distracted, the air burned as the Flame of the Void spread out, turning thousands of meters of land and air into inferno.

The Demon General then saw, upon the land and in the heart of the blaze, it could see a human silhouette of light slowly rising and floating into the air. Numberless broad silver energy circuits unfurled with him as a hub, just like a tree root growing into a larger body within breaths. On its head, two extremely luminous stars were shining as if the god descending unto the mundane, bringing an incomparable presence with him.

Pop. As if something was broken, every remaining troop and Helm itself promptly felt attacked by an utter chill that cuts into the bone—it was the leer of a beast, or indeed something ten thousand times worst!

They could see the pair of golden eyes belonging to a giant god, conjured out of an illusion, blinking in scarlet light above the sky and their minds churning.

Energy was gathering. Amongst the endless fires, a power as vast as oceans was unsealing itself—it was a giant god that came out, flexing from compression and condensation, the extraordinary unleashed from human form. As the air banged violently, a tremendous hand reached out from the flames to grab Helm who was high above.

Like a tidal wave that reaches above or an apocalyptic cyclone, the shockwave of the grip swept away dust, earth and innumerable demon around it.

Some distance away, the fleeing insectoid-demon looked back once and picked up its pace.

As for the Demon General, though left dumbfounded, it too quickly flew to dodge. In response, three more arms reached out from the flames and kept clawing at Helm without stopping, the air along their way whistling sharply as if a kettle spraying steam after being heated to its very limit. It was the same for the giant's body—blaze that was almost a few thousand degrees close to the sun's own surface spread out instantaneously, with one of the giant hands melted one of the Black Blood Fort walls that was still standing on contact.

"What the hell was that?!" Helm cursed in rage at the sight and quickened its flight, but somehow, in comparison to the lava hand that approached incessantly, the demon felt that not only did it not rise, it was dragged down by an unusual power instead. And so, with an angered bellow, Helm's hands opened its cracks and sprayed out two long green-blue ion clusters to forcibly evade it.

"Whoooosh—"

An exhale resounded, and flames that blanketed the world razed alongside raging winds. With the tremendous tremors of two feet striking ground, a colossal human form appeared from within, and stood aloft the land!

It towered like a pinnacle even when seen from above! It was a giant that was above eighty meters tall and had four robust arms while its eyes emitted solar radiance. The giant's expression was sturdy and cold with no hint of emotion, while the long hair over its head turned into scarlet flowing light as if fires that danced over the sky. On its shoulders were protruding parts that looked rather inconspicuous that could have been bearing new wings or new arms, albeit resembling the wings behind the backs of berserker demons. Behind the giant, pale red-gold halos were whirling as complex runes formed a simple unvaried construct as if a lance, penetrating the halos of light.

Running through everything with a singular principle, just like its master.

True form!

The true form of Legendary!

Helm could detect a great power wafting towards him alongside a might at the sight of his opponent's body, forcing the energies within its thousand eyes to go haywire and painfully self-immolate. However, such power could not affect it as a Legendary, and the Demon General quickly forcefully suppressed the mental distortion. Now, already deep into the clouds, Helm quickly became aware that it had been the true form of a Legendary champion!

Its opponent had come, bringing its true form! But whose true form was it? Where in the nearby Abysses would demons have the true form that was almost akin to a deity!? Whatever the case may be, the Demon General knew that things would not end so simply. That terrifying existence had gone all out on its very first move, so how could the demon retreat!

It was one of the Four Great Monarchs under the Abyssal Liege, Helm of the Thousand Eyes! Even if it did not have a colossal form or a savage appearance, its power remained inestimable to most! That giant did not scare him!

"—Baha—"

While the Demon General was left in shock, the giant was breathed, and monumental sound waves soon came rolling.

It was laughter.

The giant was laughing.

There was no concealing the delight born fighting a champion no matter how many words there were.

"Why would you run, my foe."

Explosions came amidst the waves of laughter, churning and shaking the entire land by one oscillation after another. A brutal cyclone followed, wiping out imps that had ran faraway by blowing them up entirely. Other demons that were escaping in panic were not spared either, with the wounds on many injured ones bursting under the incredible pressure, their bodily fluids evaporating instantly under searing heat while their whole body was incinerated. Beholders, succubus and other demons that did not have strong physicality were in turn all knocked unconscious, which equates to death in such environments.

The Giant God of Steel—Joshua. What flowed within his body now was not blood but highly dense liquid metal. What moved around his body was also the most exquisite of liquid pressure and not liquid pressure and no fragile muscle fiber of humans. What kept that immeasurably huge body was a smelting furnace that emulates the Nuclear Star, emanating searing heat of no limit and supplying the giant body with energy it needed to move.

There was absolutely no aesthetics of the streamline kind over the giant's body – creviced and scaled, it resembled a slaughter machine forged out of steel, which each line and inch of its body built to fight without any spot one could linger their gaze on. And now, the giant took one step forward, and the land surged like a wave. Joshua lifted his head towards the Demon General and bent his knees slightly, his body expanding before bursting in power. There were audible sounds of high liquid pressure, and soon the giant's body disappeared from view, with megathrust earthquakes that surpassed magnitude ten replacing its presence. Dust rose and engulfed up to several kilometers of land, as well as forming a crater two hundred meters deep.

He jumped upwards.

Thus, the world shook.