Soul of Burning Steel

Joshua returned to the ark.

"It's really crisp and neat."

Robzek and the soldier nodded to each other, and after greeting each other, they looked sideways at the blue blood-stained sea area: "In just a few minutes, you killed that abyssal dragon..."

When he said this, there was a hint of surprise on his expression. The silver-haired paladin knew that he couldn't do this. Although an abyss dragon with a golden peak was nothing to him, Robzek couldn't do it so quickly. Therefore, when facing Joshua who was beyond his imagination, his tone was more dignified than before.

This kind of strength of the warrior doesn't look like he just broke through the Ultimate Intent. This makes many speculations in the church of the Seven Gods' information turn into empty talk, because no matter how overestimated it is, it is still worse than the real Joshua.

"The simple methods are different." Guessing the other party's unspoken doubts, Joshua said concisely: "You are a paladin who manipulates the holy light, and you need to protect your companions. Your goal is victory, and your ability is more defensive than killing. opponent."

"And I." When he said this, the soldier shrugged: "I'm good at this."

Nodding silently, Robzek didn't say anything more. The stronger the fighters are, this time they explore the Abyss of Anos, so that the plan for the abyss will be smoother. Regarding this point, he is actually thinking about it. happy.

On the other side, Saya also lifted the magical barriers around her.

In fact, only relying on the strength of the big nun alone, the sea beasts of this black sea can never threaten the temple ark. She, who is incarnated as the Holy Light Fortress, has overwhelming power to suppress all low-level monsters, even if it is There are some powerful sea beasts that can break through Saya's block, and Robzek and Lolanda will also kill them. The cooperation of the three can indeed move freely in the Abyss of Anos.

"It's a pity..." She also walked to the side of the boat, and looked at the sea with her eyes covered by blindfolds. Saya's voice was full of regret: "Although this sea abyss dragon is slightly infected by the abyss, but But it's not those weird monsters. It should know something, such as the situation of the central vortex in the Abyss of Anos, and where those monsters come from... We could have asked it, and after collecting information, Kill them so that their value can be squeezed out."

With this tone, it seemed that this kind and gentle nun was also unexpectedly cruel and iron-blooded when facing monsters, without the slightest bit of compassion.

After hearing these words, Joshua couldn't help becoming a little interested. He asked curiously: "What monster? Could it be?" Speaking of this, the soldier casually pointed to an eroding sea beast that was fleeing in fear from the sea area where the ark was located: "These Doesn't count?"

"These weak sea beasts are certainly not 'monsters'. After losing the breath of the abyss, they will soon return to their original shape. They can only be said to be eroded creatures."

Facing Joshua's question, Saya smiled slightly, and she replied in a clear and gentle tone: "Mr. Earl, since you have just been here not long ago, we still have a lot of information that we haven't told you. We have explored four times. The Abyss of Arnos had already reached the vicinity of the central whirlpool last time, but due to some accidents, we had to withdraw... And at the end of that exploration, near the whirlpool, we fought hard with a few very strange sea monsters Once, they were extremely powerful, so powerful that it shocked us."

The right eyebrow was raised slightly, and Joshua could hear that Saya's tone was very serious. The so-called hard battle should indeed be a hard battle that was truly evenly matched, and the shock behind it was not an exaggeration.

But what monster can do this? You know, the combination of the three members of the church in front of me alone includes a veteran paladin of extreme intent, a nun at the peak of gold, and a paladin of genius. The victory of a battle or a head-on confrontation with the mid-level Black Forest Demon Tide.

In addition to Hill and his sea dragon partner, the unknown invitation expert, and the fighting power of Time itself, the monsters that can make these people fall into a hard fight... It's really interesting.

"Speaking of which, Joshua, as far as I can see, those monsters seem to have some connection with you."

Lolanda on the side suddenly spoke. He seemed to have remembered something, so he turned his head to look at the warrior thoughtfully: "The aura on them is somewhat similar to the aura on Yingying and Rin... although they tend to be chaotic, Yingying and Rin Rin, on the other hand, is perfectly normal—but there are definitely similarities."

Frowning, Joshua immediately became alert, and just as he was about to ask, the blue sea stegosaurus who had been accompanying him slowly sank into the sea on the other side of the ark, while Hei tried to climb onto the deck. When the warrior saw this, he threw the shape-changing pendant that fell on the deck to the half-dragon with his fighting spirit. After that, with a wave of magic power, Hei returned to the size of a horse, and then he took the pendant and trotted all the way to the his side.

In this regard, Joshua patted Hei on the head and praised its fighting. He looked up at the sky that was still pouring down rain, and solemnly said to the three church members beside him: "Loranda, you At least make it clear... Go back to the cabin first, and please tell me later, how are those monsters similar to Hotaru and Rin."

"No problem." The blond paladin nodded bluntly, but he was a little surprised to see a soldier who showed such obvious worry.

Loranda thought that Joshua would always have that flat tone and calm expression outside of fighting.

——Inside the ark, a rest cabin.

Robzek, as the actual leader of the Templar Ark, is confirming his position with the crew at this time, and continues to march towards the central whirlpool, and Saya seems to be going to meet someone, so he is temporarily leaving , there were only Joshua and Loranda at the square table.

"Go ahead, Loranda."

After taking a sip of the slightly hot tea, Joshua put it aside, then sat upright in his original position, and seriously asked the paladin beside him who drank the drink, "What did you say? What are monsters? Why do their auras resemble those of Hotaru and Rin?"

"You also know that the purpose of our team is not only to purify the sea area of ​​the Abyss of Anos, but also to destroy the abyss crack in the central maelstrom, and by the way, find out what kind of conspiracy those demons and the five-color dragon are playing."

Lolanda is different from Robzek and Saya who are a little less familiar. He has a more familiar relationship with Joshua, so his tone is a little colloquial: "But it's very strange, except for those sea beasts infected by the breath of the abyss. Those powerful monsters near the vortex don't have any traces of the power of the abyss, and neither their appearance nor their aura have anything to do with demons."

According to the paladin's description, the powerful monsters near the maelstrom have different shapes, but they all have smooth carapaces, and the body joints and spine are all composed of translucent crystal structures. They don't look like distorted sea beasts so much. It is better to say that they are huge insects covered in crystals.

The most suspicious thing is that they don't have the smell of the abyss, but instead have a strange chaotic fluctuation.

Having said that, Lolanda lowered her voice subconsciously, and leaned a little towards Joshua's direction: "That should be an existence similar to the Stone Demon in the world of Ilgna, a certain family member of an evil god, plus they and Hotaru and Rin have a similar smell, Joshua——I suspect they are those evil god families in the sealed place where the Radcliffe family is stationed."

"You guessed it right... the crystal insect Ulmadeus, Rage God."

After hearing the paladin's description, Joshua frowned, and muttered to himself softly: "Indeed, the divine machine is made from the leftover materials after the Rage God was killed, and Hotaru and Rin have worked with them Similar flavors are not surprising...but how did they end up here?"

Although this question was asked, the soldier shook his head, already having an answer in his heart.

This is normal, the evil god of famine has invaded many worlds one after another. Thousands of years ago, it turned the world of Carliss into barren ruins, leaving only a few wild gods who were not at the legendary level. It's not surprising that another world invasion linked to Mycroft's world was found.

But the Abyss of Anos is the interface between the abyss and the world of Mycroft. What does this have to do with Famine God?

"The situation is a bit complicated, but thank you for letting me know." Picking up the teacup by his side, Joshua gestured for Lolanda to clink the cup, and the paladin looked at his empty cup and couldn't help but smile wryly: "We didn't drink anything. Wine, what to drink, anyway, when you come near the maelstrom, after you see it with your own eyes, you don’t need my reminder.”

"At least it prepared me mentally."

Seeing this, Joshua prepared to pour a cup of tea for Lolanda. This tea came from a famous tea house in the eastern plain. Because he needs to calm his mind to meditate, but because the taste of this thing is a bit like green tea, and it tastes refreshing.

But it was obvious that the paladin was not sensitive to this thing, he quickly waved his hand and refused: "Forget it, I don't drink this kind of bitter stuff."

But just when Lolanda got up and was about to find some other drinks for herself, the door of the rest cabin was opened.

The door was opened very quickly, but the two people in the cabin had already noticed the footsteps in the corridor outside, so they were not surprised. Joshua calmly raised his hand to the elf boy at the door, and said hello: "You Well, Mr. Hill, aren't you resting in your room?"

"That's right." After seeing the warrior, the elf boy couldn't help curling his lips, and he said with some displeasure: "If it wasn't for someone's accident, we would have at least one more day to rest——I can't think of it, The storm and huge waves were actually triggered in advance."

"My fault."

He simply admitted his mistake, and Joshua also knew that the accident caused by the fire circle disrupted the plan of the entire Ark team, so he simply took another cup and poured a cup of tea: "So, do you want a cup?"

"I don't touch such bitter things except when I'm drunk."

After saying something similar to that of a paladin, Hill simply walked over, sat opposite Joshua and took the teacup. He frowned delicately, then took a big sip of tea, and his complexion immediately became ugly: "It's so bitter, how can you like this stuff."

At this time, the elf boy—although he seems to be older than a warrior, but let’s just call him that—wears a sea-blue robe with a crossed coat of arms of a giant dragon and dragon spears drawn on it, Joshua knows, This is the logo of the Eastern Plains Sea Dragon Knights, with the logo of two golden dolphins on it, which seems to be the identity of the delegation.

However, this guy was only wearing a thin silk pajamas and only a pair of slippers on the soles of his feet. He was so casual that he didn't look like a member of the dangerous sea area, but a middle-aged uncle resting at home.

"What do you want from me?"

Needless to say, Joshua also knew that the other party had come to his door specially, and he must have something to tell him, but he couldn't think of what he could say to this ocean druid and part-time dragon knight.

Could it be because your own fighting disturbed the opponent's rest? It shouldn't be just for such a small matter, right?

"I have seen my partner 'Fina' just now, and of course, I have also seen your dragon..." Frowning, Hill swallowed the tea in his mouth. Looking up at Joshua, he asked in a puzzled tone: "Joshua, I heard that Robzek and others called you that, so I just said that - are you really a dragon knight?"

"..."

Joshua thought about it carefully. Apart from owning a dragon, he seemed to have nothing to do with the Dragon Knight, so after being silent for a while, he replied bluntly: "No."

"Ahem——" After being choked, Hill opened his eyes wide, revealing his purple pupils, and his delicate face was full of surprise: "Why are you so direct..."

"Because I'm not."

Joshua told the truth, he stroked his chin, and then calmly said: "Hei was originally my war horse, and I dug out the blood in his body, until now he is half-dragon—maybe he is already a real dragon—but Anyway, that's the thing, I didn't intend to be a dragon knight, but it just so happens that the mount is a dragon."

And I seldom use war horses recently. I muttered a sentence in my heart, and the soldier suddenly discovered that in his heart, Hei has become a mobile fortress, not a mount. Joshua has long been used to rushing alone. Go and fight the enemy in the past, because it's faster to fight that way.

"...But your actions can't even be called a knight!" Hill clenched the teacup in pain, with a tangled expression on his face: "Your dragon has no saddle, no reins—just You don’t even have small armor and defensive measures to protect the vital points of the dragon, so why did you let your partner go up and fight like this?!”

On the side, Lolanda, who came back with a glass of juice with an unknown amount of sugar added, saw Hill who was talking with the soldier. After hearing what the two were talking about, he shrugged and went to the other end of the long table.

A poor paladin has no money to buy a mount, so he doesn't want to be with this damned dragon clan.

"I rarely put Black in a fight by himself, and he generally stays in the back."

Although because of Hill's reminder, Joshua realized that Hei's combat power hadn't been tapped to the limit, and he was indeed a little negligent in this regard, but he still reminded: "Generally speaking, it is I who charge first. It is responsible for the rear support, and you should have seen today's battle, Hei is actually very safe."

"No, I mean..." Generally speaking, there has never been a precedent for a dragon to be in charge of support. This is probably the first time for an elf boy to see such a strange dragon partner, and his face is very tangled. I don't know what to say: "This is too strange!"

"Again, Mr. Hill, I don't know if you know such magic."

As if thinking of something, Joshua poured another cup of tea for himself and the young elf, and asked curiously, "It's the magic that transforms the giant dragon into a human form. I heard that the giant dragons of the Sky Knights can transform into In human form, I don’t know if there are similar spells in the Sea Dragon Knights, which are also known as the two largest dragon knights.”

"No, that organization that only has a nanny is not worthy of being called a dragoon regiment at all!"

Subconsciously, he quickly refuted Joshua's words. Hill then understood what the warrior meant. He scratched his cheek and asked in confusion, "You mean humanization magic? Not every dragon knows that." Is it right, your dragon was made by excavating bloodlines, maybe there is no such inheritance magic."

"Of course."

At the door, a slightly cold female voice suddenly appeared. Accompanied by clear footsteps, a tall lady came to the rest cabin: "The blood she inherited is from the power of the ancient dragon that refines the black dragon, and The astral dragon bloodlines of most giant dragons are completely different, and only astral dragons have humanized magic passed down in order to integrate into this world."

Joshua turned to look at the door.

This lady is at least 1.8 meters tall and is taller than most men. She is wearing a plain gray leather armor. She has long blue hair and light blue eyes. Although her appearance can be called beautiful, but Absolutely no one will pay attention to this aspect.

Because the lady's body was surrounded by the obvious power of thunder, the conspicuous electric current turned into traces of arcs, flickering non-stop, and with the faintly visible unicorn on her head, anyone could see the extraordinary identity of the other party.

"Fina, you're here."

Seeing this lady, Hill smiled. He stood up and greeted her: "Come and sit here."

And this tall lady called Fina by the elf boy was not polite either. She simply walked behind the elf boy, picked him up and put him in her arms, and then sat in Hill's original position.

Joshua: "...This one..."

The warrior already knew the other party's identity, the elf boy had mentioned the name of his dragon partner before, and the tall slender lady with blue hair who was hugging the elf boy and rubbing the other party's face simply nodded and admitted: "Yes, I am That sea sword dragon, a rare strong human being, do you want to make your own dragon take human form? I saw that shape-changing pendant, but unfortunately it only has the effect of shrinking."

This lady in the form of a dragon spoke unimaginably straightforward, and she showed a faint smile: "You must be right to ask me this question."