Chapter 382 Sailing Through the Waves (1/2)
In Anos Abyss, the splashing waves blotted out the sky and the rain poured. Other than the Epoch itself, there was no sign of life in that region. Everything was in darkness, including the heaven and earth. Only the thunders tore through the silence.
On the surface of the sea, corpses of the sea monsters, with their bellies either facing the sky or burst opened, floated. The boiling heat from the seawater released an extreme stench as the sea water slowly turned into layers of red mist. There were miserable mourning on the surface of the sea.
However, any humongous wave calmed down sooner or later.
The attacks of the sea monsters had been nullified by the members of the expedition party sent by the church. Even the black dragon lurking in the shadows in the black shroud had been slaughtered by the warrior.
The battle had come to an end. With the command given by Robzek, the white ark once again restarted its engine. The ark began to move towards their destination again.
Their destination was in fact located in the region of the sea where Joshua and the Grundy had fought each other.
In the red mist, there were black gigantic objects drifting on the surface of the sea. It was a gigantic head of a dragon, while the others were body parts. It was pretty obvious that its limbs and its tail were torn apart by a powerful force before being cast to the sea, like garbage.
The body parts of the dragon made cracking sounds. Joshua was actually walking on the body parts of the dragon. He was stepping on the gigantic spine of the black dragon. Each step he took crushed the draconic bone beneath his feet. His red combat aura had also raised the body of the dragon as all of the magic runes that were engraved onto the bones of the giant dragon were wiped away.
The warrior walked from the dragon's back to its throat. Every spot he passed by, the magic energy in the draconic bones of the giant dragon would drift away as the energy was turned into mesmerizing colorful lights in the clouds.
He arrived at the dragon's head and stood between the horns. Then he spoke with a heavy tone, ”Stop pretending to be dead, Grundy. I know you are still alive.”
The black dragon did not respond. Its eyes seemed dead. They appeared to be tarnished. The draconic eyes that were as shiny as crystals had turned into two pieces of purplish rocks with no sign of life in them.
The gigantic head was covered in wounds and injuries. Its jaw was smashed to pulp by a gigantic hammer. Its tongue and its tough draconic teeth were destroyed. Black blood leaked out of its half-opened mouth and tainted the sea black.
It was obvious that the dragon was already dead.
However, Joshua did not fall for it, not even by the slightest chance. He shook his arm and plunged it into the gigantic draconic horn next to the dragon's body. He did not say a word as he exerted his strength in an attempt to pluck the entire horn from the dragon's head.
Crack!
The draconic horn that was a few meters tall was instantly broken, revealing the skull that was directly connected to it. Joshua gave the skull another heavy stomp. Instantly, large pieces of shattered skull flew into the sea with some flesh and blood.
On the head of the black dragon, a deep hole passed clean through its head.
The warrior saw that Grundy was non-responsive. He furrowed his eyebrows and reached out towards the hole on the dragon's skull. Then, a black and red combat aura gathered on the tip of his finger and formed a light beam. Then the warrior struck that solidified light beam into the black dragon's head through the large hole.
A layer of extremely thin Magic energy appeared before the combat aura beam but it barely interrupted the warrior from attacking its brain.
”I knew that you're still alive.” Joshua halted his attack immediately and calmly told the brain through that black hole, ”I don't like to play games. So the next thing that's going to happen is, I'll ask and you'll answer. If you obey the rules, with a good manner, I shall not destroy your soul or give you to the Church of the Seven Gods.”
Leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist.
”…Can I surrender myself?”
After staying silent for a brief moment, an old, helpless voice echoed through the warrior's mind through spiritual presence. ”I'll tell, I'll tell you everything… as long as you spare my life…”
”Cut the crap.”
Shaking his head, Joshua pointed his finger as another beam of combat aura appeared and struck Grundy's brain. This time, the black dragon no longer had any juice left to use its magic energy to block the second attack from the warrior. Instantly, the spiritual presence in the warrior's mind immediately dispersed. It took a while before the spiritual presence was able to gather into one piece again.
The hole in the brain stayed visible. There was a gray wriggling worm crawling around the cranial cavity. It looked just like the Dhole Worm, a sort of worm from the Dark Abyss. It was stabbed by the combat aura and looked like it was suffering. Looking closer, it looked like a large brain, it was capable of moving on its own. There was even a layer of fine black dragon scales on the worm.
Grundy, the Smoke of Death, modified itself into a half-spectral living being a long time ago. Its body had transformed into all sorts of magic equipment. It seemed that the black dragon had even modified its own brain.
”Reincarnated from the Dark Abyss… but only limited to the main brain.”
After witnessing the disgusting brain, Joshua's eyes narrowed and said, ”I'm beginning to doubt it. Are you really Grundy? Or are you actually the demon from the Dark Abyss that took over the central system of Grundy's flesh and bones?”
”So tell me,” the warrior was not too bothered by that. He looked at the bizarre-looking creature and continued, ”Why did you come over to Anos Abyss? Why is a Supreme-tier black dragon, a dragon liege that is capable of raising the odd against the battle with the Church of the Seven Gods doing here? Aren't beings like you supposed to join the battle at the Sacred Mountain? Why are you here to intercept the expedition party of the church?”
”… Because that's the direct order of the elders. My ability is more suitable for great-scale suppression. However, my attacks will affect anyone within the range, no matter if they are friends or foes. I wound my own comrades by accident. The Church of the Seven Gods is great in cleansing negative energy. My strength will get affected very badly. I'll not much good on the battlefield.”
The black dragon seemed to have learned how to behave obediently now. It answered the warrior's question without leaving out any details, ”Whatever happened in Anos Abyss was planned by the elders. I was sent here to work with another black dragon to guard it.”
”What plan? Why are you stopping us from going into the Great Central Whirlpool?”
”I have no idea,” the speed transmitting its words to the warrior was quick. The black dragon was worried that the warrior might misunderstand and end its life right there. ”I joined when the plan was already halfway done. The mission was to cooperate with my comrade. It was in charge of the entire plan. It sent the other sea monsters and I to stop you people from approaching the Great Central Whirlpool. It did not specify the purpose.”
”Is that right?”
The warrior did not seem to try to verify whether the words were true or not. Joshua did not hesitate and immediately continued with the interrogation, ”Who is your comrade? Why were there spawns of the Evil God of Famine among the sea monsters that attacked us?”
Before he even finished his words, the warrior pointed at Grundy's head. Another beam of combat aura struck the cranial cavity of the black dragon. That combat aura beam penetrated a few layers of barriers that seemed to be summoned with some stealthy spells and some other spells that could hide a presence. That beam of combat aura went to the center of the sky and held down a Dhole Worm that was lurking in between the cracks of the skulls, trying to escape. After that, the black and red combat aura burst into flames and burnt the creature into ash and dust.
In that vague moment, the Satsui Hadou spread violently. A small part of the soul of the Dhole Worm was devoured. The spiritual presence of the black dragon faded away again. The gigantic Dhole Worm that looked like a brain in the middle of the cranial cavity and began to curl up. The warrior stared coldly at the creature and waited. After a while, Grundy finally gained consciousness.
”… You, you can actually eat my soul?!”
This time, the black dragon felt genuine fear.
As a spellcaster, the Grundy's spiritual world was indestructible. It deeply believed that a half-baked interrogator like Joshua would never stand a chance of breaking it. Even if the true demon from the Dark Abyss tortured it, Grundy was confident that it would never reveal anything. Furthermore, the black dragon had adjusted itself. Even if its soul was completely destroyed, it would still be able to survive.
The black dragon had behaved obediently before that because it was attempting to buy some time for itself. It was waiting for an opportunity to flee. The large modified brain could split itself into many fragments. It even possessed a secondary brain that carried a fragment of its soul. That secondary brain was capable of growing on its own to turn into the complete 'Grundy the Smoke of Death' after its body was destroyed.
The small Dhole Worm carried a fragment of its soul that had been compromised. The only chance it had to flee was gone now. However, that was not the most important thing. The black dragon noticed that a fragment of its soul did not return to its body. Instead, it had completely vanished. It was devoured by the energy embedded within the combat aura of the warrior.
Even Grundy was not sure that its soul could still be revived after being devoured by that energy.
”I have told you. No more games and behave nicely.”
Joshua was not bothered by the black dragon's behavior. He just warned again, ”Or else, next time, more of your soul will be devoured.”
The threat went beyond death and the destruction of its soul, Grundy instantly behaved politely and obediently. It cooperated as much as it could with the warrior. It gave up a large amount of information to Joshua.
”My comrade is called Mandagar the Dragon of Death. Its name should be quite familiar to some of the elders in the land of the distant south.”
The black dragon's spiritual wave was weakened by a lot. The speed of giving information to the warrior was three times faster than before. ”Mandagar is one of my few friends. It almost died in the hands of a wielder of the Holy Blade in the distant south. I was the one who performed the 'Soul Binding Ritual' on it to fix its soul … However, ten years ago, it disappeared into the wild and I could not contact it no matter how much I tried.”