Soul of Searing Steel

As the two champions' energy flow gradually weakened, the raging windstorm, icy rain, and snow quietly over land quietly fell over late-night Moldova.

In the dead center of the circular crater beside Magel's Unfrozen River, Joshua was suppressing Herlas. The warrior's face was calm and dispassionate as he held onto his own arm that was stabbed into the middle of the high priest's chest.

There was no sign of the thrill after defeating a powerful foe—in fact, there appeared to be a shred of regret.

Right then, the lifeforce around them had been completely withdrawn from their own bodies, no longer radiated horrendously towards the external world. Soon, the river started to pour into the crater and fill their position with icy water, although both Herlas and Joshua took no notice. They simply stood still as the river deepened, awaiting the arrival of the final moment.

Naturally, Herlas was not dead.

The abundance of the cultist high priest's lifeforce surpassed even some Legendary champions. Even after the experiencing the impact of Order power, Joshua's invasive lifeforce as well as a part of the warrior's divine suppression, his own vigor never stopped resisting.

Now, his body was a battlefield. Two lifeforces, utterly different but possessing the same rich offensive aspect and corrosive tendency were fighting—forming billions of microscopic teams and brawling around Herlas's muscles, arteries and nerves.

Nonetheless, Herlas was in an absolute disadvantage.

Because he had been too greedy, he had actively absorbed Joshua's Order power and his exquisitely prepared lifeforce into his own body, causing the severe complication in the succession of events. If it had been an ordinary warrior the situation was salvageable, but his opponent was Joshua—the standard of their lifeforce was of the same level.

Furthermore, since Joshua could not withstand Herlas's energy drain ability, there was no way the high priest would be able to turn the situation around.

It was no longer a question of the abundance of lifeforce—like malignant cancer cells, the warrior's lifeforce was wildly eroding and assimilating Herlas's lifeforce. In minutes, the high priest's face aged as badly as Joshua's, perhaps a little weaker. What was worse, this was not an expendable incarnation but Herlas's own real form that lived within the world of plagues.

If this body was vanquished, it meant that the life named 'Herlas' would be extinguished.

"You wanted to become a World Will." Joshua suddenly spoke at the bottom of the chilling river, the soundwaves piercing through water and reaching Herlas's ears directly. "The human puppet that walked upon the Mycroft Continent was only your mouthpart that consumed lifeforce, while the world of plagues was your body. This real form of yours, on the other hand, is their mind."

"This is your path to ascend towards Legendary—turning your body into a small realm entrenched upon the outer reaches of this world, soaking in the life and masses from here bit by bit and becoming a real [Void Behemoth] in the end. The only chance of killing you is to take your real form out from that subspace of yours."

The warrior spoke with such conviction he seemed to have seen through every secret Herlas had. However, after hearing those words, the cultist high priest kept silent for a long time before suddenly bursting into laughter.

Herlas's wrinkled face now looked like a scarred porcelain, with pieces falling off it from time to time. Those were the remains spawned from the innumerable struggle between the two lifeforces in his body. Filled with lifeforce devoid of a host, they floated within the ice-cold river and attracted competition between the innumerable microscopic lifeforms and algae.

Within seconds, large deposits of dark-green algae appeared out of thin air. They were unbelievably powerful—even the freezing temperatures several dozen degrees below zero were unable to kill them.

"You're right. To turn into a behemoth that wanders the many worlds was my path."

Even as he spoke, the cultist high priest never stopped struggling—the lifeforce that belonged to him was still in an incomparably violent grapple against Joshua's own. Crimson sparks—Joshua's lifeforce that he successfully expelled—that was were flying out from the seams over his body.

Despite that, Herlas's tone was relaxed. "The Mycroft Continent has already died, I have seen its destruction… The cult's future could not be entrusted upon this world destined for ruin. I had to think for their future."

In that very moment, Herlas had the presence of a man who led a huge cultist organization. The high priest stared into Joshua's eyes—the crimson gaze that seemed to have burning flames, and asked in curiosity, "What about you? Powerful warrior, what is your path? Did your battle against me help you find your direction to Legendary?"

Joshua turned quiet for a moment at those words.

Fated Legendary.

The highest threshold of the world of Mycroft, gods who walked amongst men.

Life that reached that level would have been addressed as deities in the ancient era. They could change weathers, move mountains and seas, all according to their will. Battles between them could easily readjust landscapes on a scale using entire nations as units, or further quake the roots of the continent, enraging the oceans and collapsing all life.

Still, it was easier said than done to ascend into Legendary. Steel tiers could sense and manipulate energies, Silver tiers could empower the soul and mold energies, while the self-awareness of Gold tiers was the first step to extraordinary. However, all of those—including the surpassing of all limits in Supreme tier—was a foundation for Legendary.

If the foundation was a little unstable, the individual would eternally be held at Supreme.

"Legendary is an existence that completely shifts its form into an even more improved existence."

After a long time, the warrior slowly spoke. His expression was solemn, as if he was seriously thinking. "I have seen several Legendary champions. Their paths were astonishing and yet the same, whether it was to turn their bodies into Sacred Light, giving form to will, embody nature or—like you—become a celestial being after your own fashion. All of you desire release from the shackles the world had given to 'life' itself, and become an eternal 'existence'."

To ascend from life into existence was the divide between Supreme and Legendary. However powerful the Supreme being, they remained a life. Legendary on the other hand was not just a life—they were a phenomenon, the person who handles a certain power.

"Herlas, the direction for your ascension has much that intersects with mine. My battle with you allowed me to understand much, giving me a huge step towards successful condensation of Steel Strength."

Joshua's grip over the detached arm tightened. Red-black patterns appeared, and between the flashes, a hint of divine power was incurred, pushing back a wave of Herlas's resistance.

The warrior's expression was hidden behind the crimson radiance, his expression unfathomable. "You were a fine opponent."

However, he shook his head at his own words, his tone filled with regret.

"But your path isn't mine. My path to Legendary could not be found on you."

Right then, their lifeforce had been pushed to their limits. Herlas's own was turning into a pale-white sphere of light within his body, while Joshua's was compressed into a black inferno.

Now, the inferno wrapped itself around the sphere like a pack of greedy and hungry wolves, tearing shards from it bit by bit. And with every loss of a shard, the inferno roared while the sphere dimmed.

Although Herlas could turn himself into a vapor of countless spores and escape Joshua's suppression, it was a suicidal move against one who manipulated a lifeforce that was equally powerful. The only thing he could do was condense his self into a core to forcibly hold out against his opponent's devouring.

As lifeforce flowed backward, warrior's face slowly turned back to normal—his wrinkles were fading, although his grey-white hair did not recover. Apart from that, Joshua sensed the cultist high priest underneath him becoming enfeebled. However, Herlas' vigor also seemed to be solidifying—it became difficult for the black flame to tear down shards now, all it could do was futilely burn over its surface.

Herlas too did not have the strength to keep talking. His soul was hidden within the center of the lifeforce core and surrounded by the black flame. His spirit was constantly affected as the warrior shredded his soul energy, keeping Herlas on his toes.

"It's the end, Herlas."

Arriving at the final step, Joshua lifted his head to look up towards the surface of the river. He lifted his left hand, and a grey ray rose into the air, breaking through the thick ice water and algae.

Hearing the master's summon, the Dragonslaying Swordspear arrived at the warrior's hand.

"Die."

In the next moment, Joshua drove the spear and stabbed through Herlas's life core.

The cultist high priest did not have a life core at first. His body had been the world of plagues in the outer reaches of this realm—even his brain, true form, as well as the incarnation that was his mouthpart did not require the formation of a core.

He would not die as long as his soul was not destroyed. Even if he was temporarily vanquished, he could be reborn through the world of plagues.

But now, against Joshua's incomparably violent and corrosion that was almost cancerous, Herlas was forced to assemble his life core to balance out. However, that was simply throwing a mat over fire—such was the consequence, to have his soul and core shattered by a single strike from the warrior.

The pale-white sphere instantly broke into millions of pieces, while Herlas's body was also promptly pulverized.

With that, the High Priest of the Cult of Pestilence who had rampaged across the West Mountains for decades died silently on the bank of Magel's Unfrozen River.

Still, Herlas never stopped fighting back before he died.

As he had said, such was life—fighting and devouring each other. Like a plague, so utterly selfish it had to kill other life to survive.

The colossal life force now spread across all directions. Looking at it from up high would have been to see a white halo that was urgently expanding.

Where the circle touched, life returned to the lands of Moldova that had become deathly silent following their battle. Rivers were cleansed, the air freshened, and green sprouts poked out beneath the forests that had turned into ash from the shockwaves.

It was a tide of life that could only be described as monstrous. Even the living things that survived within the vicinity started to change unusually—the brown algae appeared to have bypassed thousands of years of evolution, becoming invincible to the cold, even absorbing the atoms of energy across the earth.

Meanwhile, more complex lifeforms such as insects, plants, and beasts did not change significantly from exposure to the lifeforce radiation. However, the potential they now carried within their bodies guaranteed that their descendants would have powers that far surpassed their elders, with new species of daemon already formed.

As a matter of course, most lifeforce was absorbed by Joshua who was at the closest proximity. Despite spending a large part of his own in his fight against Herlas, the lifeforce he gained now was several times the lifeforce reserves he possessed before. Unable to control the life ripples that was overly substantial, it spread in synchrony with the warrior's heartbeat to the external world.

That was why he simply closed his eyes and stayed beneath the icy Unfrozen River, using his will to dominate the newly gained lifeforce, bit by bit.

[You have maimed the Domain of Evil—World of Plagues]

[You have slain the Cultist High Priest, the Great Pestilence Demon, 'Herlas the Witherer']

[You've earned a new designation—Carrier Vanquisher]

[The most difficult thing to wipe out in this world are the endless viruses and bacteria. The plagues they caused each killed countless lifeforms every year—even most sentient life could do nothing against them. You've slain the agent who represents the Evil God of Pestilence, extinguishing a life that was most difficult to kill. No life could survive against you.]

[Your threat level against any life is raised by thirty-five percent. Your damage against any life is raised by thirty-five percent.]

Threat level refers to something similar with existing precautionary points. Occupations such as shield and cavalry knights would possess techniques that increase taunt and threat level, largely attraction the attention of monsters. For an existence to have increased in threat levels to a hundred and thirty-five percent, it meant that if the monster did not flee from fear after approaching the user, its gaze would definitely be affixed to the user subconsciously.

Ordinarily, behemoths and monsters with horrifying forms such as giant dragon and demons would carry huge threat levels. Most humans would therefore turn their attention to those powerful daemons. Though it was a fine attribute, it was meaningless to Joshua—his formidable ability, presence as well as the halo of despair he possessed had long broken his threat meter. It was useless even if it was raised by a hundred and thirty-five percent.

Apart from that, there was also a little shift in other attributes.

[Name: Joshua van Radcliffe]

[Form: Hero]

[Designation: Carrier Vanquisher]

[Race: Human ???]

[Race Skill: Divinity (?)]

[Level: LV71. Supreme Pinnacle]

[Challenge Level: LV68 (Hero)]

[Attribute: …]

[Charm: -243]

For reasons unknown, the stable system appeared to quiver as Joshua stared upon it. The latter half of the attribute table appeared to turn blurry towards the end as if it had a bad signal, covering a huge chunk of text that was loaded and obscuring it.

Even with Joshua's observation ability, he could only identify a few fragmented dialogues in the few seconds.

[Steel… Request… Temporarily unable… Observe new… reaching… Ascension]

[Current Progress 4/5]

Until those long chunks of text stopped loading, the system stopped quivering. Then, the refreshed text vanished entirely too.