Soul of Searing Steel

In a wide fountain plaza, an elf wearing fancy clothes was walking hastily across the compound.

Spring water was rippling, causing the reassuring sound of water flow. However, that elf with silver-white hair and a pair of violet eyes did not stop to enjoy the serenity of the scene. He just walked past the fountain in the middle of the place across the floor made of tiles. He was walking towards the auditorium on the other side of the place.

Above the auditorium, there was an emblem hung high above. The emblem had a picture showing a lighthouse on a coast that seemed to be guiding in the distance. That lighthouse was surrounded by twelve stars.

That represented the most powerful organization on the continent, the symbol of The Bay Confederation.

He went up the stairs with large paces and entered the auditorium. When the guards around saw his face, they stepped back and waited respectfully for him to walk past them.

“Director, the other masters are waiting for you in the conference hall.”

A guard who appeared to be leading the defensive force of the place reminded the man. Meanwhile, the elf expressed his gratitude with a soft voice and walked straight into the conference hall.

Soon after, he passed through the corridor in the auditorium and arrived at the conference hall.

“I’m sorry for being late.”

When he opened the door, he cooly apologized. However, when he lifted his head to looked at the scene in front of him, what he saw gave him a shock—in the conference hall, there were only a dozen of people sitting around the roundtable that was barely filled. They were all staring at him.

The Minister of Human Resources, the Minister of Magic, the Minister of Military Affairs, the Minister of Technology, and the Minister of Religion… All of the heads for large-scale systems within the Confederation were all in the conference hall. Meanwhile, his superior, the Minister of Technology, a half-elf with a long beard, was glaring at him. His eyes did not seem to reveal his current emotion though.

“It’s all right, Director Rolla. You were experimenting at the Biology Institute when we suddenly called you over here.”

At the front of the round table, the Minister of Defense, a middle-aged elf with no emotion on his face began to talk, “There’s no need to feel nervous. We called you here because we need your help analyzing some matters for us.”

After he was done talking, he made a gesture with his hand. Meanwhile, the elf called Rolla swiftly stepped forward and came up to the side of the Minister of Defense.

The Minister of Defense directly handed him a large number of pictures and documents. He even pulled a chair and invited Rolla to sit by his side. So how would Rolla dare to sit next to his superior in front of a group of ministers who seemed to be much more superior to him? So he quickly refused and looked at the pictures he was handed.

“This… this is?!”

Before he could even feel the tension building up in him, his astonishingly awkward voice came out of his mouth immediately. And none of the people on the scene had any strange expression on their faces. Because before that, when they first saw the pictures, they were all behaving just like him. They were extremely shocked as well. Well, maybe their faces looked even more ‘interesting’ than Rolla’s right now.

“Everything you see here is real.”

Not far away from Rolla, the Minister of Technology said softly, “Rolla, there’s no doubt about this. What you see here is a creature that really exists.”

“So this is all real? What a gigantic… it might make more sense if we compare it to those monsters from outer space. Maybe this creature is even larger than those…”

In the picture, there was a huge figure wrapped in lava. Its body figure was slender. It looked like a horse, and yet with the appearance of a dragon. Its body was flowing along with the lava as if it was feeling peaceful underneath those hot boiling lava, as though staying on the surface of fresh water. Right before its chest, there was radiance that looked like a sun. It made the picture looked a little blurry as it seemed too bright for the lens of the camera to capture it. The only thing that the picture showed clearly was that wretchedly horrifying head of the creature.

There were comparison markers on the bottom of the picture as well. The creature was estimated to be roughly twenty meters long. And its height was approximately ten meters tall. It looked similar to a living fortress itself.

Rolla’s purple eyes moved back and forth as he tightly held on the documents in his hands. The joints between his bones tightened up intensely that they turned pale. He looked as if he had to use a force strong enough to tear the documents apart just to calm himself down. The Director of the Ministry of Biology took a deep breath before he could actually speak again, “What do you need me to do?”

“Analyze all these images. They are all data. Every information contained in these documents are something that the Taruila Expedition Elite Special Squad risked their lives to bring back to us.”

The Minister of Defense opened his mouth again to speak. He seemed to be a little tired though. In fact, everyone in the conference hall was very tired. Before they called Rolla over, these high-level members had gone through more than ten conferences and meetings. They had not been sleeping or even eating for almost a day. Although their bodies possessed some extraordinary abilities, they were not able to prevent their minds and spirits from being worn out. “Rolla, you’re the finest Biological Scholar there is in the Confederation. So you analyze this creature and identify to see what exactly this creature is… and …”

After remaining in silence for a brief moment as he let out a weak sigh, the middle-aged elf softly said, “I wonder if this creature has any sort of connection to those monsters in the sky…”

Meanwhile, Rolla had already begun reading the documents at a rapid pace. On this continent, magic power was gradually declining. Even an archbishop could no longer wield powerful magic. However, some of the supporting type magic spells could still be used as easy as they used to be. As the director of the Ministry of Biology, Rolla would naturally know some of the magic spells. He was using the reading spell to swiftly gather all of the information and data in those documents. Then he closed his eyes and furrowed his brows as he began to analyze everything he gathered from the documents.

In the meantime, everyone was staring at him quietly, waiting.

“… Can’t get too much information just by relying on pictures though. And the data presented did not really explain much…”

The first sentence that came out of Rolla’s mouth had caused everyone in the hall to express their disappointment. However, their interest was caught again when Rolla said, “But I can confirm that this creature has nothing to do with those monsters.”

“Why?”

The Minister of Magic, an old elf whose hair had turned white completely seemed to be interested as he started asking. His eyes gleamed with wisdom. “Regardless of its size or its appearance, this creature looks very similar to those monsters. Before this, we even suspected that the new activities of these monsters are the main reasons Mount Sigma erupted.”

“I felt the same at the beginning, but the following data shows otherwise.”

Facing towards that archbishop that played a vital role in the Confederation as the Minister of Magic, Rolla quickly answered and explained in detail, “You see, this creature can walk freely in the lava, and the energy level of the fire element around its body should reach about 5,000. Meanwhile, the energy level of the core by its chest cannot be predicted though. According to the data that was brought back by the Taruila Expedition Elite Special Squad, I can temporarily estimate that the energy level of that core is at least over 30,000.”

As for the total energy level… Rolla did not think deeply about that aspect because it was just simply too horrifying to even think about it.

After a moment, Rolla continued, “Other than the difference between those characteristics and appearances that actually meant nothing much, directors, everyone seems to have forgotten the most fundamental message of this… Those monsters are not as strong as this creature is – Maybe the eruption of the volcano was really caused by this creature after all.”

That was the final conclusion.

“Thirty thousand?!”

“The peak value of our latest magic cannon during its launching can’t even beat that number!”

“How is that possible…”

“More than 30,000… I did mention the term ‘at least’. Maybe it’s much higher than that!”

“Causing a volcano eruption. Oh my god. What sort of monster is this…”

Noisy voices echoed across the entire conference hall. There were only a few high-level executives who had corresponding understanding in that regard. Well, most of them only focused and specialized in their own fields. Hence, only such straightforward comparisons could cause them to feel so shocked.

Energy level of 30,000. It would mean that there was not a single weapon in the entire Confederation went beyond the energy level of that creature. Meanwhile, even the strongest one among those monsters that came from beyond the sky had only an energy level near to 10,000. Their number was the true advantage they had on their side.

Meanwhile, speaking of the volcano eruption, the Confederation does possess weapons and technologies that could detonate volcanoes to cause them to erupt. However, for an individual being to have such tremendous strength and power… We can’t say that such being does not exist though. We can only say that their existences are merely like legends.

“Alright, this meeting is over.”

After seeing that everyone’s heart had become a little bit distracted, and many of them who had gone through a tough day could really use some rest now, the director of the military and the director of Ministry of Defense looked at each other in the eye and nodded at the same time. After that, the Minister of Defense stood up and declared that the meeting was over. “The Great Commander is no longer in command. Then follow the order he left behind. Icarus, you are going to issue a press release later. The people in the volcanic region are in need of reassurance. Meanwhile, the relief materials need to be transferred over to the site as soon as possible…”

While the Minister of Defense was implementing his own second-hand rights, the Minister of Technology also stood up at the same time. He walked next to Rolla and asked Rolla to follow him. In the meantime, how would Rolla dare to refuse the request made by his superior then? He was merely a director of a research facility which focused on researching about those creatures from outer space. There were also many seniors of his who were working in the country’s research headquarters. So the words of a chief of the technology department were significantly powerful. His words could be so powerful that Rolla would not even dare to think about it every day.

“You spoke too briefly about it. But it’s alright since you’ve managed to make those people understand that the situation is extremely serious right now.”

On the way to the other room in the auditorium, the Minister of Technology was concise and comprehensible. His breath was steady and he did not seem like a person to talk crap. “A little while later, you must go to the Great Commander and tell him more about your judgment of this creature in detail… If you feel a little nervous, you can talk to me first and sort out your thoughts before going over.”

“The Great Commander?”

Rolla did not hear the words after the term ‘Great Commander’. He just seemed to have suddenly thought of something and he whispered softly, “Yeah, the eruption of Mount Sigma… and the appearance of a mysterious creature that is so powerful… The situation has become so serious now… but how come we have not even seen the shadow of the Great Commander then?”

The Minister of Technology was not bothered by such little disrespect though. The technicians all had such a ‘bird-like'(1) attitude anyway. So he turned his head around and looked at the south-west direction. His eyes seemed to be able to see through the wall of the hall. “The Great Commander…”

“He is now at Mount Sigma.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the dimensional passage, Mycroft continent.

In the Northern Empire Kingdom, three human figures appeared from the teleportation circle of a city near the Empire Kingdom.

A man and two youngsters, one appeared to be a lady while the other appeared to be a young man.

Thud.

The sound of their footsteps began to sound. Along with his first step, the black-haired man stepped out of the teleportation circle. He was the first one to step out of the teleportation circle, leading the youngsters in the front. Then he lifted his head and looked at the three mountains that were towering far away from him. In fact, he was also looking at the three gigantic fortresses that were surging with enormous magic energy. The warrior knew that there was a gigantic city that was so magnificent to the point that the existence of the city was like a miracle itself.

“The surroundings appear to be deserted. It seems that the celebration party hasn’t even started yet. Am I here too soon?”

He said casually as he laughed. He did not seem to expect a response. He was just muttering to himself, “Then, it seems that this is the Imperial City of the Northern Empire Kingdom.”

“The Holy City of the Triplet Mountain.”

Translator Note:

1. Bird-like – Sh*tty attitude, sh*tty face.