Soul of Searing Steel

Getting into the mansion through the main entrance, an orc-skin boot touched the wooden floor. The clear footstep echoed throughout the hall of the mansion.

Joshua looked around at the decorations in the hall. His eyes darted left and right.

The square hall had a diameter of tens of meters, the floor carpeted in beige. There were portraits of the past owners of the mansion across all four walls of the hall. At corners, there were potted plants that seemed to be wilting. Meanwhile, the center of the hall had an ornate weapons rack, which was filled with all types of weapons. Everything just seemed so familiar to Joshua.

The mansion was where he was born and grew up. The entire place basically carried his past, such as a big hole in the carpet that was not far from him. When he was young, he accidentally burned that carpet while he was playing with fire. Because of that, Fang had taught him an unforgettable lesson. All thanks to the old butler’s merciful begging, he was not beaten up badly and still had the opportunity to take charge of his own life.

Raising his head to look around, Joshua could not help but think that every corner of the hall had memories of him growing up there. However, the people that lived there were no more. Other than himself, they were all gone… his father passed away. Meanwhile, his old butler had vanished without a trace. The female servants and the other butlers were all banished long ago. So there were no familiar faces at all in this large mansion for the time being.

Not only that, there was a group of shameless individuals that were adamant about occupying the mansion. Their greed seemed to have no boundaries.

Ying raised her head and looked at her master. She could feel Joshua’s current emotions. However, as a newborn Divine Armament, her much simpler logical mentality could not understand Joshua’s current mixed up feelings.

“I’m home.”

Joshua did not suppress his voice on purpose, nor did he deliberately shout it out loud. He merely announced that he was back, like what he usually did when he arrived home, in the past.

However, before Joshua’s voice could reverberate through the entire hall, a light flashed by the corner of the stairs which was approximately ten meters from where he was standing now!

Shoof—

A shimmering arrow was traveling almost at the speed of sound, silently aimed at Joshua’s neck! The moment when both ears could hear the air trembling so violently that a vague sound was present would be the moment when the arrow would strike its target.

“Hmph.”

With a gentle lift of his two fingers, Joshua firmly stopped the incoming arrow. The force contained in that arrow was nullified by his catch. Joshua held the arrow in his hand. Then he turned and looked at the corner where the arrow was struck from in disdain. “An elemental archer… If I were you, I would not have used a silent arrow.”

“For a man who survived a battlefield where getting shot at with millions of arrows, this arrow strike has neither strength nor invisibility. The only thing you can get from this would be a little magical effect. Did you know you’re hilarious?”

“… You can only talk.” The ranger responded darkly.

Not only he failed to ambush Joshua, but he also revealed his location to Joshua as well. This ranger held a crossbow in his hands, a small knife by his waist, and a big bow on his back. So he simply walked out from the shadows to reveal himself. His face was concealed by a hood. The only feature visible to Joshua was his eyes. From his own pocket, the ranger dug out seven different types of crossbow arrows with different magic runes on each of them. He then sneered, “According to the rumors, I expected to find a very powerful man. It didn’t cross my mind that the intruder is just an idiot. I can’t believe you’re not wearing any heavy armor when facing an archer. You didn’t even bring a single weapon with you. It seems that the boss was right all along. Those mercenaries are just a bunch of losers. I can’t believe they were defeated by an idiot like you!”

While he was talking, the ranger quickly loaded his crossbow with the arrows he took out from his pocket. Then he began to press the trigger of his crossbow repeatedly as fast as he could. There was almost no pause at all. In just a blink of an eye, eight beams of magic bolts were fired at Joshua from different directions.

At the same time, Joshua could only shake his head again and again. He tightened his grip on the arrow he caught earlier on. The steel in his grip started to twist as the sound of cracking and clicking was heard.

“Weak.”

With a wave of his hand, an intense sound piercing the air was heard.

The arrow that was crumpled into an iron ball turned into a black stream of light before it was shot right toward the front straight away. The wind swept by the movement of the iron ball deflected all of the arrows that were shot at Joshua. In one brief instant, the iron ball had arrived before the eyes of the ranger. The ranger was just done shooting his arrows from his crossbow. He looked dazed. He did not manage to react to the situation at all.

The strength embedded in the iron ball was so heavy and powerful. If the iron ball could hit the target, even the physical quality of the Silver-tier soldiers cannot afford to take this blow head on. Their skulls would certainly be crushed upon impact. They would die over and over again. However, right before the stream of light could hit the ranger in the face, a shadow suddenly appeared behind him.

Bang!

A soldier wearing chain armor holding a diamond-shaped shield blocked the iron ball at a very close range. The iron ball that was originally an arrow which was forcefully bent into its current shape was shattered into numerous pieces of iron upon the strong impact.

“… Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. My pleasure.”

The ranger was still in shock. However, he reacted swiftly. Then he quickly took the huge bow from behind his back, ready to attack his enemy. He no longer looked down upon Joshua; Joshua’s physique was far more powerful than the ranger expected. That strength was almost as powerful as a Gold tier. So the ranger could not have taken that attack head on and survived. He swallowed and said nervously, “Be careful, he is strong. I misjudged him. This is the pinnacle of Radiant Soul!”

“Didn’t information on him say he’s just Silver tier?”

Without having to be reminded, the warrior was baffled. The impact of the iron ball that he deflected felt like a direct hit from a heavy crossbow. Its impact was so powerful that it left quite a huge mark on the surface of his shield. His hands are now a little numb from taking the impact with his shield.

A few seconds later, three other warriors arrived at the main hall of the mansion. Joshua could hear the scattered footsteps coming from his back. That was the sound of a larger platoon of soldiers gathering in the hall.

“Humph.” There was no expression or whatsoever on Joshua’s face. He turned his head around and removed the leather cloth on him. After throwing it to the side, he glared coldly at the five Silver tier enemies, “Pests.”

“You arrogant piece of sh*t!” The new soldier that just arrived could not help but bellow at Joshua. “There are five of us, and you’re just one without even a weapon in your hands! So what makes you so confident to fight us then?! If you surrender now, you might keep your dead body intact at the end of this battle!”

Joshua ignored that soldier, as a warrior only had to move forward. He placed his right hand out and clenched his fist. He put on a posture showing that he was ready. His body seemed to be vibrating slightly. All his muscles were quivering by the second.

A faint glow emitted from within and then spread throughout his body. His skin was visibly turning red.

Sensing a huge threat in the making, the ranger does not intend to continue the battle like that. He quickly pulled the string of his huge bow to the maximum and loaded a good ice-engraved magic rune arrow onto his bow. With his stare, coupled with the whistling sound of the bowstring, an arrow was released, breaking through the air as it roared towards Joshua. Frost spread as the arrow whistled by, caused by the fluctuation of magic in the atmosphere.

The ranger had killed numerous two-headed flying dragons with this powerful hit before. He succeeded in freezing the fire elemental elites as well with this strike. As one of the strongest mercenaries in the north, the ranger had unlocked the potential as an elemental archer to the max. Even the fiery cannon of the goblins would be no match for his frost arrow strike!

Meanwhile, the four remaining soldiers were not just for display either. When the ranger triggered the battle by launching his first attack, the four of them also raised their weapons at the same time and charged towards Joshua. Because the heavy armor that they wore made them extra heavy, their footsteps were so heavy that they broke the wooden floor in the hall. The broken pieces of the wooden floor were sent flying all over the place.

The five of them seemed to be working together as a team at the moment; they were cooperating with each other very well. Their movements did not slow down at all.

However, Joshua showed no trace of fear.

“So what?”

Surrounded by the warriors with four of them charging at him, Joshua grinned but his eyes were cold as steel. He was looking at them like looking at his prey, “Insignificant beings like yourself dare to charge at me?”

Bam!

Joshua gave a powerful stomp to the ground. The stomp was thunderous. The impact of the stomp was so powerful that the carpets, the wooden planks, and even the ground beneath the floor were crushed. Joshua’s figure disappeared right before the eyes of the five warriors. In the next instant, the frost arrow that the ranger released landed on the spot where Joshua was initially standing on. The ice runes began to flash. The flying wooden splinters, rocks, and pebbles that were flying all over the place froze instantly. A radius of a dozen meters was instantly covered in frost.

At the same time, Joshua had reached the side of one of the warriors holding a sword, dressed in leather armor. So he reached out his right hand and grabbed on to the side of the leather armor on the warrior who could not believe his own eyes. Then he revealed a smiled filled with disdain.

“So you think I can’t kill without a weapon?”

Joshua’s muscles began to twitch. He put his strength into his five fingers and instantly put five holes on that leather armor made of orc skin. With his five fingers plunged firmly into the armor, Joshua lifted the warrior’s body around with his powerful strength and used the warrior as a shield to block the attacks from the few other warriors.

“Hahaha—How can power be an inconvenience?!”

Picking up the scent of blood, Joshua began to laugh like a madman. Ever since he got through that, this should be the first time he laughed so heartily. His pupils emitted a seemingly red glow. Word for word he said, “Look closely, you bunch of weak scum!”

By putting some strength into it, he tore the leather armor of the warrior with a sword. The pliable and tough leather was as weak as a piece of paper in his hand.

“Clothes!”

With a flick of his hand, the leather that he originally pulled instantly rose up. Under Joshua’s swing, this bundle of leather armor was swung powerfully around like a stick. Being swung around like a lashing whip, the warrior with a sword was smashed onto the ground. As the head of the warrior went smashing down to the ground first, his skull cracked and part of it fell on the ground. Blood began to gush out of his mouth and his nose. That poor warrior died on the spot.

“Gravel!”

Without a moment to rest, Joshua stomped the ground and turned his body around with strength. Joshua then used the remaining leather armor in his hand as a bat to smash the ground again. Instantly, the wooden floor continued to crumble. Countless rock shards flew out in all directions upon the impact of the smash. The soldiers were forced to stop attacking. They had to make sure they were protecting their vital spots. Meanwhile, the ranger also intended to retreat for the moment to stay out of the line of fire. However, he had never thought possible that a figure would clash straight into him as if it had been targeting him all the while. Upon getting a powerful hit on the right side of his jaw, the ranger’s head spun round and round vigorously. His neck was snapped purely by the force that struck him in the jaw.

That was the doing of half of a leather armor that was torn up badly. Getting tossed around by Joshua, it became as powerful as a real heavy punch.

“And also— your own attacks!”

Grabbing on the opportunity that was presented before him, Joshua flashed himself to the front of a warrior with a flail in his right hand and a large shield in his left. Confronting Joshua’s agile movements, the warrior was not slow himself. He immediately swung the weapon in his hand towards Joshua as strong as he could. He intended for his weapon to land on the lower part of his enemy. However, Joshua had seen through his intentions. So when that warrior was attacking and putting his shield up, Joshua reached out his left hand and pressed on the inner side of the warrior’s right elbow. Then he pressed it with his strength.

This relied on the strength coming from turning his body around. Then he also pushed his target with his palm. Although the impact was not powerful, the force of the push was much heavier. Even the warrior with the flail could feel that his body lost control for a moment. His entire center of gravity was shifted away instantly, causing him to fall towards the right.

Joshua would never pass on such a great opportunity. Losing his center of gravity would mean that he was vulnerable to any attacks! So Joshua pulled his palm back and struck out again with a penetrating strike right into the throat of the warrior where no armor was there to protect. A crunch was heard. That was the sound of the bones in the throat cracking into pieces.

Six seconds later, Joshua only managed to kill three out of five warriors. He was not contented with his performance though.

Confronting a warrior holding a spear and another warrior holding a shield before him, Joshua spotted the opportunity to strike again. So he made his move and crashed into the arms of the warrior with the spear. Then he pressed one of his hands on the waist of the warrior while the other hand pushing on the shoulder of the warrior. By pouring his strength in, he threw the warrior straight at the other warrior with the shield.

The warrior with the shield actually knew better that Joshua was just trying to use his own teammate against him to blind his sight for a bit. Joshua was just trying to use the other warrior as a shield. So the warrior with the shield quickly leaped backward trying to gain distance between him and Joshua. However, he had never thought that after he managed to dodge his teammate from crashing into him, an iron ball that he knew and made him feel infinitely desperate suddenly appeared right in front of him.

Splat!

The sound of flesh and bones splattered across the ground followed by the sound of bones cracking into pieces were heard. The nose of that warrior holding a shield was penetrated straight through by the iron ball! His consciousness began to slip afterward.

Meanwhile, Joshua also kicked his foot right in the chest of the warrior with the spear who fell to the ground. The warrior vomited blood because all of his ribs were broken. In the end, he died a painful death.

“If I would, even the earth beneath my feet can become my weapon.”

Standing in the middle of the mess he made in the hall, Joshua glanced at the five corpses on the ground and smiled in disdain, “Do you really think that my muscles and my skills are just for display?”

Standing behind him, at the main entrance, Ying’s silvery hair swayed with the wind. Ying, who was ready to fight, stood helplessly as her green eyes glittered. She did not know what to feel. In the end, she muttered disappointingly, “What about that promise…”

Joshua noticed her reaction and immediately turned around. He smiled at her with a guilty look on his face.

“Ying… My bad. It seems that I haven’t had the chance to use you. Next time! For sure!”