Soul of Searing Steel

As the middle-aged man slowly turned around and saw Joshua’s face, the warrior witnessed the change in the expression of that man’s face, how he gradually turned from looking exhausted to looking as if he was struck by an irrepressible horror.

Initially, it seemed that it was because he did not hear what Joshua said. The man with the communicator turned with the intention to scold the guy behind him who interrupted him in his conversation with the other man on the other side of the communication circle. But when he looked up and saw the face of the tall warrior, the expression on the man’s face froze.

The redness of the man’s skin had instantly turned pale. His lips were trembling, and his eyes were opened as wide as the eyes of a dying fish. Meanwhile, the man’s throat produced some ‘uh-oh’ sounds after staring at the eyes of Joshua for like two seconds. After that, he straight away shut his mouth as he shook quietly.

That was quite bad. Could my Charisma attribute be really that low now?

Joshua did notice that the people he recently came into contact with were too strong and powerful. Regardless of whether it was Roland or other few Gold-tier champions from Ural Mountain, all of them had the power to resist the Fear Spiritual Energy on Joshua. Meanwhile, he would try to keep himself in check a little more while he was back in his own territory to prevent spreading fear among his own people. However, it seemed that he did not keep his Aura of Fear in check just now. Hence, that terrifyingly high attribute of his Aura of Fear was thrown over to the man he spoke with. The warrior thought that there would only be a few Gold-tier beings who could actually resist such an oppressive spiritual pressure though.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man standing in front of him wearing a dark costume with a long beard obviously had not possessed such a tough will. Initially, his narrowed gaze was still flashing with glistening light. But now, everything that was left in those eyes was pure fear. Joshua had no doubt that if this man could respond to the situation right now, he would have immediately turned around and fled.

Thing went on as expected by the warrior though. Just when he kept some of his aura in, that poor middle-age man was screaming as if he was being splashed with cold water while he was standing in the middle of a cold winter. Then he immediately turned his body around and started bumping his way down the stairs heading towards the foot of the mountain as if he was being pursued by a bunch of wild man-eating beasts.

“… Sometimes…”

Joshua could not help but sigh softly and grin a little. He shook his head and turned around as he continued to climb up the hill under the shining lights from the pyroxene lamps along the road. While walking, the warrior complained to Ying and Ling who were also walking by his sides, “I feel like a little like a demon king in a story or a legend. I’ll only leave silence and sadness behind wherever I go.”

“Whether it’s the hero or the demon king, Master is still very powerful.” The young girl followed Joshua’s footsteps closely. She seemed not bothered at all as she was attempting to comfort the warrior. “I also feel strange about it. Why would they fear you? You speak calmly and peacefully during normal times. You’re not showing off any sign or behavior of a nobleman.”

“That’s right! Master looks very stunning in a battle!” The young man also did not seem to show any sincerity as he tried to back up her sister’s words. Ling also did not seem to be bothered by that. “Well, it is a strange thing to walk out the middle of the night and talk to a stranger. If it was me, I would have turned around and left as well.”

Meanwhile, on the other side, that middle-aged man ran all the way down to the foot of the mountain like a madman. Before he could even catch his breath, a serious voice was heard echoing from the communication circle in his arm, “Iwa, what the hell was that about? I’ve heard someone speaking the name ‘Joshua’…”

After taking a few deep breaths, the middle-aged man named Iwa managed to calm his trembling body. Previously, an intense chill up his spine had caused him to become unable to even say a word out of his mouth. He was tensed up so much that he could only calm down little by little until now. Then he spoke into the communication device with his trembling voice, “My lord, you’re never going to be able to guess… what in the world just happened right in front of me!”

Without waiting for the man on the other side of the communication to express his doubts, Iwa lowered his voice, as though he did not want to be noticed, and spoke softly, “Just now, Joshua… the count in the North that you wanted me to look into… he had just appeared right in front of me a moment ago! He looked exactly like the portrait you provided me!”

“… What? Can you repeat what you’ve just said?”

At the other end of the communication circle, Count Moroes furrowed his brows intensely. Before hearing all that, he was comfortably lying on a reclining chair on the balcony of his mansion. But after listening to what his man had to say, this middle-aged nobleman could not help but sit up on the reclining chair. He tightly grabbed into the armrests of the reclining chair. When he got up, he gripped the armrest of the reclining chair and spoke in a grim tone, “Iwa, repeat what you’ve just said about the situation, now!”

Shortly after the middle-aged man told Moroes fully about what he had just experienced by the staircase, the middle-aged nobleman comforted the poor middle-aged man before ending the conversation on the communicator.

He sat on the reclining chair as he was brushing his chin with his hand. His brows were intensely furrowed up at the moment. The expression on his face looked tense and anxious. “So… He has come all the way to Imperial City? And he’s already on the mountainside?”

That fellow actually did not take the teleportation circle to Imperial City straight away. Instead, he chose to walk all the way here… Even with a lot of information flashing through his mind at the moment, Count Moroes did not have the slightest clue on what he should do next. He was originally a person with both plans and wisdom. Otherwise, it would not have been possible that he would extend his business all the way to the Pentashade Dragons. However, the appearance of Joshua had ruined all of his plans, causing the middle-aged nobleman to feel confused as to what he should do next.

That fellow Iwa was coincidentally talking to me about matters related to Joshua when Joshua suddenly appeared in front of him. It was no wonder that he would be stopped by the warrior… I’ve even instructed him to go leave the mountain through the stairs but not through the teleportation circle to avoid any complications… Who would have thought that this sort of coincidence would actually happen here…

However, the warrior might not be bothered by the fact that someone was gathering news and information about him. After all, the relationships between noblemen were all the same. Everything would be doing the same thing to each other. Well, everyone had a mutual understanding that they would not pick a fight with each other. Hence, it would be nothing more than being an awkward situation now that Joshua had discovered his deed. Count Moroes was having countless thoughts in his mind at the moment. However, it appeared that he had not made up his mind. “He certainly has yet to know that the two demon-blooded dragons were actually acting on my command… There’s no need for me to be nervous at all.”

Having said that, his nerves still seemed to be on the edge though.

Iwa, his henchman, knew more or less about something he did to Joshua before in the past. Hence, he would only felt so terrified when he saw the count from the North in person. Well, Moroes was not much better than Iwa though. Facing the monster who was rumored to—no, who indeed had slain multiple giant dragons with ease, Moroes would still feel a little tense in his throat even though he was a count.

Moroes Dougening, the chief of the Dougening family, a count to the court. His hometown was located in the Yanus Fortress area in the southern part of the Empire Kingdom. His ancestor was a local chief executive who had defended against the Dark Tide in the Central Dark Forest. After he fought valiantly and contributed to the war, he was promoted to a count and rewarded with a territory of his own. However, just having a difficult life a count in the North would have, the nobles in the southern Empire Kingdom also needed to battle against the daemons day and night. This was not something that everyone could actually do. After a failed attempt on defending off the Dark Tide and losing quite a number of closed ones, the ancestor of the Dougening Family had decided to abandon the territory and leave. Instead, he purchased an estate in the Imperial City to make a living from carrying out commercial activities that other old noblemen belittled.

Now, hundreds of years had passed. Perhaps it was the blessings of the gods. The Dougening family had rooted their business commerce network throughout the entire Empire Kingdom. They even had close bonds with some organizations in the western hills and the far East. The Pentashade Dragons were one of them. Each side would provide convenience for the other side. For that, they would occasionally provide some conveniences for each side to commit some illegal activities. Thanks to that, the life that Moroes lived had been rather luxurious. He was even famous for being very rich in the Empire Kingdom. Relying on his own wealth, he even formed connections with some of the true noblemen, for instance, some duke in the Empire Kingdom. For that, he had secured his status.

From that point of view, he did not seem to have any reason at all to fear Joshua. Even if the warrior really found out that Moroes did make contact with the Pentashade Dragons and ordered a hit on the warrior, the warrior should not have any capability to retaliate back at all.

However, this middle-aged nobleman knew that he must not look at the matter this way.

The Mycroft Continent was a world filled with extraordinary powers.

Meanwhile, Joshua was a twenty-two year-old man who had already reached the realm of Upper Gold tier. Not to mention that he was a prodigy when it came to slaying dragons.

Who could be certain about his future then? Perhaps the legacy of this dragon-slaying warrior would only reach this far out. Or perhaps he could advance into the Supreme-tier domain. Or even perhaps that he could make it into the Legendary-tier domain—by then, even if he became a wealthy noble that he could prepare an army that could rival a country’s strength, he would not be able to keep himself and his own families safe.

Softly letting out a sigh as he clenched his well-groomed right hand, Moroes closed his eyes and sensed the power within his body.

As he had always been focused on operating the business of his family and handling his family properties, his personal strength was merely about the strength of an Upper Silver-tier being. And that was also because the nature of the Dougening family bloodline was excellent. Furthermore, he had every valuable magic potion at his disposal. Hence, he could reach that level of strength without much training. A warrior’s path would require the trail of blood and fire. He who had been staying in the city all his life would basically never be able to break through his own limit and advance into the realm of Gold tier.

Facing champions who could already smash the city walls into bits with literally their bare hands and fists, who could overturn the tide of a battle, Moroes naturally had a sense of fear. The advantages he had with his wealth did not actually reduce that feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder that was embedded deep within his heart. Instead, it amplified that feeling of his.

“Maybe I should hide and lay low until the dust settles down.”

He said as if he was talking to himself, “Then I shall travel back to have a look at my old home in the far south. Well, I’ve not gone back for many years since then.”

“Father!”

Suddenly, the door on the balcony was pushed open. Then came a tall and strong-looking young man with a pair of eyes as sharp as the eagle’s through that door. He was wearing heavy armor that was meant for training. Sweat was flooding all over his forehead and his neck. He seemed to have stood behind the door a long time ago, waiting for the right moment to push the door before him. Until he was beginning to run out of patience, he decided to push the door open and walk right in.

After greeting his father, he walked up to the middle-aged nobleman who was currently frowning, “Why are you afraid of that Joshua? He has no evidence of whatsoever. How can he do anything to us?”

“Maarya, did you join the training with those knights again?”

Without answering the question his son threw at him, Moroes just looked his son in the eye and shook his head a little. “You should learn from your younger brother. He’s still doing his studies in the study room. If you continue on like this, your position to take my place will be shaken.”

“But I don’t care about letting younger brother inheriting the power of our family. In fact, I think it’s a very good thing. Well, you can’t deny that your place suits him more than it suits me.” The young man called Maarya wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke in a tone filled with disdain, “Father, don’t try to avoid my question. The most important thing for a nobleman is the glory of the family.” Even though our family has been doing business for generations, we can’t just forget the great deeds of our ancestors in the past war.”

Looking deep into the young man in his eyes fuelled with fury, Moroes shook his head as he laughed bitterly. Maarya Dougening was his eldest son. He liked playing with weapons and admired powerful champions since he was a child. He had never actually shown his enthusiasm towards managing his family business though. Meanwhile, because his family would really need support in the aspect of strength, so the eldest son had made progress towards that based on his own will. He even deliberately asked for favors through the connections of his family to get him into the training sessions of the Imperial City’s knight. Currently, Maarya was already eighteen years old. He had also become the reserving force of the knights. He was sincere and faithful towards the ideals of the knights, and he also had firm principles. Not to mention that he already had the strength of an Upper Silver-tier being. He was completely different from this business man who would do anything for the sake of profit.

If the two of them could really get into a battle, Moroes knew very clearly that he might not be able to defeat his own son now.

However, compared with that warrior in the North they had been speaking of, his son would be too far behind in term of strength… In particular, Maarya had been undergoing strict closed training with the knights of the Imperial City recently. He only got to return home for a few days in throughout an entire month. So Maarya might not be aware of some latest news. His impression towards Joshua might still be a little different than the reality.

“Maarya, come. Sit down.”

Waving his hand as he asked his son to sit with him, Moroes gave some thoughts about it for a brief moment and decided to come clean with his eldest son. So after the strong young man sat down by the side of his father with a puzzled look, the father told Maarya the truth about everything as Maarya looked at his father with shocked eyes.

*****

As the night passed, the first light of morning rose.

The house of the Dougening family was left empty. There was not even a single human being in the mansion anymore.