Soul of Searing Steel
chapter-53

Chapter 53: Willpower

Standing not far from the small sloped hill, Chiri Uranus was carrying Zorgen who almost passed out. Standing right beside them was the white-haired mage, Feng Lawrence who was astonished at the sight before him.

As a Silver-tier warrior and a mage that had already hit the pinnacle of their own current tier, Chiri and Feng’s insight and the ability to analyze were not on the same level as the other guards that cheered after seeing their own liege slaying a Gold-tier daemon. Although the three of them would bicker over all sorts of stuff on regular days, the three of them were old partners for many years. They even slew a few Gold-tier daemons while serving their previous count. Because of that, they understood how powerful a Gold-tier being could be.

So when the warrior in black armor that descended to the ground tore the sky apart with his red Combat Aura, the three of them knew that the war was as good as over as that power was on a completely different level. Even when the Gold-tier colossal beasts were in their prime, they could not even defeat Joshua who was only armed in one hand.

In contrast with the rumors about their new liege who had not mastered his Glorious Strength and all sorts of upgrades in the abilities of his extraordinary body, what the warrior that Chiri and Feng saw before their eyes was a skilled and experienced warrior who could use his Gold-tier strength to the fullest.

It seemed that everyone had underestimated the strength of this young liege, as he was much more powerful than they imagined.

Flying at high speed, unleashing of his Combat Aura, forming blades with air or adjusting the power of his muscles throughout his entire body. Whichever it was, Joshua had done to it to the max. When he was engaging the Gold-tier colossal beast head-on, he could instantly see through the weak point of the beast and undoubtedly struck the beast to its demise. The two had seen the previous liege do this before. However, they could not help but feel that even the previous liege could not have done it better and smoother than Joshua.

However, even though that was the case, they could only sigh for feeling old while praising the newer generation for surpassing them.

What really bewildered them was the scene right before their eyes now.

Not far from where they stood, the heat of the battlefield that rose tremendously due to the battle between the Gold-Tier warrior and the colossal beast had suddenly dropped again right after the battle ended. The battlefield was covered with a thin layer of frost. The strong winds were blowing the snow far from the north. Everything looked so white that it looked like mist spreading in the air.

However, right in the middle of this misty atmosphere was a large crater.

That was the hole that Joshua left behind with his Combat Aura that tore through the air for passing through. His blazing red Combat Aura came in together with a hurricane crushing the colossal beast across the icy tide, pushing it up into the air, killing it in an instant.

That crater had not disappeared yet until now. The flying snowflakes would instantly evaporate and dissipate into the air the moment they reached the space of the crater. The air there was as hot as blazing steel. Even after some time, the remaining power was still there.

“The power of will…” The white-haired mage said lightly. He appeared to be cranky all the time. He did not look like an old spell user but instead like a true scholar. Observing solemnly, he said, “This is the residue of Glorious Strength.”

“How long has it been since our lord crossed to Gold tier? How did he master Glorious Strength within such a short time?”

It was obvious that Chiri was baffled. The enchanted runes on his face were glowing. The golden-haired warrior that he was carrying on his shoulder still remained unconscious. In the meantime, the half-elf warrior was looking at Joshua who just put down the colossal beast at a far distance. Then he asked, “If that’s the case, our Lord’s Glorious Strength has something to do with his willpower?”

“Not sure about that.”

Feng shook his head and revealed a relieved smile on his face. “No matter what, our master is the perfect heir…”

At the same time, Joshua was dragging the head of the Gold-tier colossal beast across the countless corpses that he dropped across the land. The blood was frozen by the low temperature of the surroundings, turning into a layer of red ice. There were also complex magical waves rippling back and forth the area.

Glorious Strength.

It could not be explained. The same words emerged in his head all of a sudden.

The warrior looked at his left that that was holding the unknown creature from the dark abyss while blazing red radiance was gushing out of his hand. However, there did not seem to have any other effect. The silver-white egg was extremely durable. A little Combat Aura would not be able to hurt it at all.

Upon having some thoughts, he withdrew his Combat Aura. After a brief moment, a dark red radiance mixed with a little dark scent rose in the palm of his hand.

“Chi—”

The twitching creature let out a miserable screech as if it was splashed with strong acid and then shrank. Silver lights flashed throughout the body of the creature. It seemed to have entered its defensive mode. However, the body part of the creature that was touched by his red Combat Aura had some black marks that seemed decayed.

Nodding as if he was thinking about something, Joshua kept the power in the palm of his hand back to himself. He decided not to torture the poor soul anymore.

Truth be told, his Glorious Strength was yet to be awakened.

Just like the people of this world who just crossed into the realm of a whole new tier, he would need to acquire the one and special strength that belonged only to him through understanding wisdom and hard training. With the system fixed on the black-haired warrior, he knew that he had to reach Level 35 before he could see his own full potential. However, before that, he could still unleash a small effect of his power that his full power had to offer.

“Wisdom, will, belief, world… previous life. My current Glorious Strength is a kind of purifying power that is based on my Will. I’ve no idea what I would get. I shall see what effect lies in my power then. I look forward to it.”

Nodding his head and bringing up the system tab, Joshua took a look at his own attribute tab.

[Name: Joshua van Radcliffe]

[Level: Level 33 Gold-tier Glorious (Challenge Level – Level 31 170/9,000)

Previously when he just achieved the level of Gold tier, he had killed a Gold-Tier warrior called Moz which was five levels higher than he was. After that, he had not stopped training as he was earning experience points on a daily basis. Furthermore, by descending to the ground with such a powerful impact, he had killed countless daemons as well. Then he also killed a colossal beast that just achieved Gold tier. All the experience points made him level up twice. So he only needed two more levels before he could reach Level 35, the minimum level required for him to truly acquire his Glorious Strength.

“Not bad, however, I can only be reminded that the system exists when I level up. I’ve almost forgotten that this thing exists.”

Closing his eyes and closing the system as well, Joshua sighed and said, “Thank god that I’ve learned Steel Armor Kokyu-ho. If I missed stomping down on the backbone of the Gold-tier beast from far above the sky like that, I would have crushed every single bone in my legs when I landed.”

What he said held some truth to it. The Gold-tier warrior had only stepped into the first part of mastering his extraordinary life. He would still have to suffer a great deal of damage for landing down thousands of meters from above the sky. If it were not for Steel Armor Kokyu-ho that enhanced the toughness of his body, he might have died together with the monster when he landed.

Upon approaching the rubble of the broken walls, Joshua was feeling lazy to walk all the way back to the main gate of the fortress. He activated his Combat Aura and blew off the obstacles right before him, clearing a path into the fortress for himself.

Instinctively, the warrior turned his head back.

Right behind him, the three men that seemed to be wounded pretty badly were approaching him.