Chapter 441 It Is a Great Idea (1/2)

Starfall Year 833.

As if layers of frozen ripples, the jagged hills, and mountain ranges were covered in the colors of deep winter snow. It was late at night—vicious beasts were lurking; the birds were quiet.

And upon the sky was a slit as if a scar, allowing moonlight to fall.

Frost refracted the twin moons, the crystalline silver light illuminating Mount Mordus in a dazzling glisten—at the same time, Saint Igor broke through the barriers between dimensions, arriving at the North.

An ancient hand reached out as the pope soothed the dimensional ripples around his body. He stared before him, at the objective he made this journey—the warrior who made him surprised and delighted once more.

––He has become stronger again.

Such was the first thought that flashed through Igor's heart when he saw Joshua.

Becoming stronger was something only natural—every warrior in their prime should improve all the time. It was only after more than a hundred years that their breath and blood would decline, their flesh slowly deteriorating while discord appeared between soul and will. Only then would their ability slowly fall to decay.

However, improvement that could move even the Pope of the Seven Gods Church was certainly no natural improvement, but something more akin to a shift in essence.

Igor studied Joshua of the now carefully.

Compared to months ago at the Sacred Mountain of the Distant Sea, the warrior's body at present held substantial reserves of vigor that was several times what he had back then. The terrifying energy complied to the warrior's will, flowing in his immeasurably sturdy and perhaps indestructible physicality. Layers upon layers of detailed, complicated, and unique constructs were crisscrossed amidst the muscles and arteries, forming compositions akin to natural runes, releasing energies that was exclusive to Joshua.

Igor could feel a familiar scent from within the warrior. It was energy directly originating from flame and steel, surpassing all mundane things across heaven and earth—different from the first clue displayed last time.

Right now, Joshua had grasped the essence of that power. With just a little insignificant understanding, it would be very possible for Joshua to step through the biggest barrier of this world to gain an epiphany for the power to grasp fate.

The power of Legendary.

”One step away, Joshua, van Radcliffe.”

Closing his eyes and opening them again, Igor could not help sighing once. He looked with a complicated expression at the white-haired warrior, his words carrying a hint of awe. ”You're just one step away from us. I've initially thought that this day would come in several or a dozen years—never would I foresee that it would come so quickly.”

The terrific speed had even disturbed his train of thought, astonishing the pope so much that he forgot the reason he came to the North.

”A world of difference still remains in one step away. Your Holiness, surely you're not here to speak about such matters.”

Bowing once, Joshua turned slightly towards the distant horizon. After making sure that there was no reaction over there, the warrior understood that it was not due to some circumstance that happened suddenly, but something already planned. Maybe his fight against Herlas was observed by several Legendary champions.

Then what is it that could have attracted the head of the Seven Gods Church to travel here to the extreme north from the very ends of the south? Is it the sealed Evil God fragment, or the death of Herlas the Witherer?

The pope seemed able to see through Joshua thoughts. Brandishing the Bright Scepter in his hand, he smiled, shaking his head. ”Stop guessing, Joshua. I'm not here for those trivialities, but for you.”

”And of course,” Igor added, turning towards Brandon who was still speaking in hushed tones with Vale Dani, his gaze fixed upon the dual blades on the swordsman's hip. ”For your friend too.”

The elderly pope's arrival did not seem to shock anyone. Apart from Joshua, Brandon and Vale Dani did not reach—much less the other Gold-tier champions of other factions. They never seemed to notice any out of the ordinary, as if the Legendary champion never existed here.

Indeed, Igor's figure was like an indistinct sheet of light, unseen for anyone apart from the warrior.

”He's very important,” Igor said softly after studying Brandon for a while. ”If it wasn't for you, he would have been the best choice… But since you're here, there's no chance for others.”

What's going on?

Joshua could not stop himself from frowning. The old pope's mysterious tone was leaving him baffled, and as such the warrior decided to cut straight to the matter. ”Your Holiness, is there something you wish to tell me after seeking me out?”

”That's right,” Igor nodded in reply, not denying the fact. But as if remembering something, he clenched the scepter in his hand

”But this is not the best place to talk,” he said, extending his hand to Joshua.

Seeing that, the warrior turned towards the divine armament siblings.

”You guys stay here,” he told them, and extended his hand too to grasp Igor's palm.

––It is not flesh and blood.

At the moment of contact, Joshua sensed that the Pope Igor's elderly palm was not a human's flesh and blood body, but the condensation of countless energies and countless 'light'. It had no shape, substance or weight, but could take any shape as the old pope wished and acquire the essence he desired.

”Time to go,” Igor said.

In the very next moment, the two men vanished after a flash of obscure white light, disappearing from Mount Mordus entirely.

Meanwhile, in the distant horizon, Israel and Nostradamus stared at the beam that normal beings could not see rise straight towards the sky, as if a reversing meteorite.

”Let's go,” the sovereign of the Empire said in a low voice, shaking his head after watching for a little world. ”Master, we still have much to do.”

”You're right, Your Majesty.” The old mage nodded agreeably, and soon, both men stepped through a green-blue doorway before them and disappeared.

The void outside the world of Mycroft.

In the cold and desolated darkness, a warm arc suddenly shone.

When Joshua regained consciousness and opened his eyes, he had arrived at the boundless exterior of the world.

There was no air or gravity, but extreme coldness. The sensation of chilliness and suffocation rapidly came, though the warrior did not panic. The lifeforce in him energized, quickly building a layer of transparent membrane over his skin and eyes. Then, red-black aura shrouded Joshua's entire body and shaped into a halo, blocking out the void energy radiation that was faintly coming through.

Only after having done that did he had the energy to observe his surroundings, and what he saw made him gape slightly.

The stars shone brilliantly in the void. In the borderless and desolate darkness, there were endless twinkling stars, while streaks of dazzling galaxies appeared before Joshua without the interference of atmosphere and dust. They glinted and moved as the warrior breathed.