Soul of Searing Steel
chapter-72

As one of the extremely rare Legendary warriors in his previous life, it was to be expected that Joshua would pay extra attention to those of other classes who were on the same level as himself. It did not matter if they were players or NPCs in the game, Joshua would still treat them the same.

As for the prominent swordsman that protected the northern land in Joshua's previous life, Brandon Kaos the [Sacred Sword of Annihilation], Joshua would definitely keep track of him as well.

A powerful individual with a title, Brandon's name was known throughout the entirety of Continental War. He was renowned for his might, good looks, and gentle attitude. At the very least, he was exceedingly popular in his party.

However, it was not the time to ponder about the significance of Brandon's fame. No matter what could occur in the future, at least Joshua needed to resolve this important issue he is faced with.

"I, Count of Moldavia, Joshua van Radcliffe, have come forth to provide my support."

Because he was wearing a full set of black heavy armor, Joshua only nodded slightly and made a military gesture at Brandon.

According to custom, regardless of what they were wearing, the two noblemen should exchange their names and reveal the insignia of their family to each other. Then, they should proceed with small talk before discussing real business. However, both the warrior and Brandon were not people fond of wasting their breath on fatuous intricacies. They did not have that much time to squander.

Joshua immediately said, "The situation is dire, do you have any…"

Before he could finish his words, Joshua abruptly frowned. All of a sudden, he stopped speaking to Brandon. Instead, he lifted his head and looked into the night sky that was pitch black.

The Gold-tier swordsman was no ordinary man either. He was not infuriated by Joshua's sudden reaction as it would normally be inappropriate and rude. He knew. Joshua was willing to travel all the way to Moldova to provide support. That should be enough to prove that Joshua was not a rude and arrogant fanatic. The warrior in black armor should have his own reason for acting in such a way.

Thus, Brandon looked in the direction Joshua faced. He stared into the night sky that was as empty as the void. A blue radiance flashed before his red eyes.

The warrior suddenly shook his head. The metallic lance in his hand trembled, and in one swift and powerful stroke, flung an impaled three-meter long giant wolf from his lance. The thrown corpse smashed into the city walls. The unleashing of his red Combat Aura had splattered the flesh and blood of the wolf's corpse all over the place. A flurry of freezing wind instantly froze and solidified the blood into red crystalline structures.

"I've been wondering all this while. Where is this leader of the daemons that are attacking us?"

Looking upon the Dark Tide that seemed to embody chaos, Joshua removed his helmet. His visage relaxed, as indicated by his eyebrows. His red eyes were fiery as molten lava. "There shouldn't be a leader in the Dark Tide. If there were Gold-tier daemons emerging from the outset of battle, even if they could not breach the fortress, they could definitely wear us out. That would be a strategy used to prepare for the next step of their invasion. To add to my hypothesis, I've charged into the monster horde and engaged in battle with some Gold-tier daemons. However, the battle was anti-climatic. There was no thrill to it at all."

"I had not thought that it could be roaming around here."

"It's actually here! It's actually here!"

The golden-haired swordsman seemed to have noticed something as well. The red and blue in his eyes fused as his sight went beyond the giant bats and flying dragons across the sky. A hint of surprised washed over his eyes. "It has been right above all this while… It has been watching us from above!"

"That's right."

Joshua said lightly, "That's really arrogant."

He grinned a little. However, it seemed more like he was smiling. The warrior then raised the lance in his left hand and contracted the muscles across his entire body. The Combat Aura that was surging through his left hand turned from red to dark red. A sense of murderous and intimidating intent began to surge around the metallic lance, refining it into a magical lance that had countless black runic patterns inscribed along the shaft.

"Let's deal with it then."

Boom!

In a moment's breath, Joshua directed and launched the lance with all his strength. The propelling of the lance birthed a series of sonic booms that stirred waves of winds across the surroundings. The impact shoved everyone other than Brandon a few steps backward. Even the solid city walls that could withstand the impacts of the daemons' assaults had cracks emerging on its surface.

The lance vanished from everyone's sight in an instant. It penetrated through the atmosphere, rending the heavens asunder in a horrific whistling sound. The air distorted and the surroundings trembled. Right before everybody's eyes, this lance launched towards the sky like a crimson shooting star!

"Hiss... roar!"

Instantly, a miserable roar could be heard echoing across sky. In the middle of the dark sky, a monstrous shadow emerged. Dark purplish dust scattered across the surface of the black shadow in the shape of a dragon. The lance that was surging with a dark red hue had just penetrated the right wing of the dragon.

Glaring with rage at the warrior in black armor, the black dragon did not hesitate at all. It immediately stretched its mouth open revealing all its fangs. A beam of mystical breath that was as fast as the speed of light projected from its mouth. The magic breath was directed towards where the city wall was!

*****

Under the night sky, the black dragon observed a ceremony on the sacrificial ground where it was harvesting souls for its own nefarious purposes.

It did not matter if it was the death of humans or the death of daemons, the black dragon felt nothing in its heart. Regardless, as long as they belong to world, they could serve as sacrificial offerings for the black dragon to present to 'that existence'. While the lives of humans seem to slightly outweigh that of the daemons, it did not really matter which side had accrued more deaths.

More and more deaths… More wisps of fire extinguished could bring much more pleasure to the Chaos across the land… bring more pleasure to me...

The black dragon began to recall that close to the center of the Dark Forest existed a portal emanating absolute darkness. It was opened by the black dragon itself.

Close to that portal were two descendants that had accepted its 'egg'. By the portal that glittered in mysterious rune inscriptions and the chaotic miasma of the dark Chaos... They were mutated, strengthened beyond limits and one's imagination.

Following the slaughter and harvest, the black dragon and its descendants would grow stronger… until the day they could surpass the golden-white Elder Dragon's strength.

It would not matter any longer.

For as long as the two descendants were safe and sound, it would not matter even if all of the daemons perished… By the end of everything, the Berserk Daemons were just like an army of ants, beneath it. They were not of the same species as the black dragon.

That being said, it would still be better if it could harvest more souls as soon as possible. The black dragon would still need a large number of daemons to aid it in breaching the defense of the fortress. Otherwise, the black dragon could never succeed in achieving its goal solo. It might even meet its maker before that.

In the past, to prevent that possibility of setting in, the black dragon had lurked in its own lair in hiding. It had never stepped out of its lair since. It only decided to fly out of its lair this one time. However, an unforeseen circumstance occurred…

According to the estimations of the black dragon which had obtained wisdom, by unleashing the full force of the daemons upon the fortress, even if they could not breach the Moldova fortress, they could definitely cause a great deal of damage to the fortress. Many would die. However, in truth, other than sensing a large number of daemons dying on the battlefield all of a sudden, it only managed to harvest the souls and lives of a few humans.

That was really odd. The dragon could not fathom what had happened in the battle below.

Thus, it decided to fly over and observe the situation of the battlefield… it must be noted that the dragon had not left its lair for quite some time.

A layer of dark dust concealed half of its body that was golden in color, as the Chaos magic surged across the dragon and the inky black body of the dragon slowly camouflaged into the pitch black sky. The dragon, then perched on a cliff, alighted towards the battlefield.

The dragon decided to terminate its flashbacks.

While it was roaming about in the sky, the black dragon seemed to discover the reason as to why there was a massive number of daemons dying all of a sudden.

In the battlefield, there was an intense mark of an explosion. The magic wave was still raging about in the vicinity.

Has that Gold-tier mage gone mad? That seems to be a spell that was activated under the circumstance that the mage was forcing herself beyond her limit! The black dragon also noticed that there were two new Gold-tier combatants on top of the fortress' wall. Although it could not sense any magical aura from them, the two of them seemed quite powerful just from their appearances. Their bodies and their willpower seemed to be quite intimidating. The dragon could also tell that their Combat Aura should be quite full and abundant as well.

That should be the reason why the Dark Tide did not prevail in the first place.

Feeling disgusted, the black dragon could sense the presence of those two humans that were antagonistic towards itself. It was repulsed by its rigid thoughts.

Suddenly, a chilling sensation washed over the dragon's entire physique.

The black dragon could sense that its disguise born of Chaos magic had been compromised.

Right on top of the wall, that warrior who had a set of black armor on him suddenly turned his head towards him. His eyes were looking at it as if they were staring at a dead corpse.

Murderous intent—it was violent and cruel. The ferocious murderous intent was aimed directly at the dragon. That sense flooded the dragon, crushing the dragon's mental spirit. The black dragon could not help but recall the feeling when it was once hunted by its own kind. That golden-white Elder Dragon that traversed half the continent in an attempt to hunt it down was a painful memory that continued to torment the black dragon endlessly.

Because of that, it hesitated for a split second.

Thus, it became the sole reason it was hit in the first place.

With its sudden appearance, the lance traveled at a speed far faster than the time anyone had to react. At that moment, the black dragon did not even have the luxury to think about evading. Its wing was penetrated. The dark red Combat Aura corroded the solid dragon scales and dragon skin, causing black blood to profusely ooze out from the wound.

"Hiss... roar!"

Upon letting out an enraged roar, the black dragon knew that it had made a careless mistake. Overwhelmed by its own rage, it immediately gathered the virus scale powder and the Chaos energy that had been accumulated across its entire body. Then, the dragon aimed in the direction of the city wall and launched an attack straight at it!