Chapter 493 Godly Adven (1/2)

It was a completely different weather, scent, sky, and land from the Mycroft Continent. Unlike that world that had just recovered from ruin, everything about the land before Joshua's eyes was filled with the presence of 'prosperity'.

The warrior was certain that this was the Central Continent in the Glorious Era, a land carved deeply into the River God Sinoer's memory. His entrance had relieved the deepest existence within the deity's brand, forcing Him to open his own domain.

Standing by the banks where the rivers gathered, Joshua put a food on a stone and watched as it flowed. Ling and Ying had followed him here, and so master and servant simply stood where they were and waited in silence.

The waters unfurled incessantly. Its source was the mountainous Migel Highlands, its icy stream flowing at the ditch between mountains underneath the sun's warmth and assembling into a rivulet between the forests. Those innumerable rivulets would afterward flow into a single huge, elongated river that extends throughout the entire Central Continent.

The god's spirit gestated here in this ancient past. In obscurity, it accepted the belief and prayers of the living, developing a form akin to life. Then, the Mother Goddess stroked it, finally allowing the innate demigod to awaken its own divinity and sublimate into a deity.

Joshua suddenly spoke.

”He has awakened.”

The warrior leaned forward, his spirit becoming excited.

As the words escaped his lips, a streak of indistinct green-blue radiance arose from the turbulent cascade. The water surged and assembled, forming a huge body that was dozens of meters tall.

Half man and half snake, the river god that rode the waves appeared in the center of the rapids. Its upper body was a man covered in scales and holding a staff, while the lower body was a giant serpent built from the rivers. Green-haired and youthful, he turned and stared at the trio by the river, its gaze empty as if devoid of any intelligence.

And the entire illusory world changed along with the gaze of the former god.

Noticing that the ground beneath her feet was fading and shifting rapidly, Ying subconsciously approached the warrior and tugged at the corner of his clothes.

”What is this place?” she asked tentatively.

Ling, too, came closer, sticking himself to the warrior's back.

”What is He doing, Master?” he asked softly.

”This is the inherited domain of a perished deity,” Joshua answered.

”As for Him, He is searching for my weakness, to give me the most demanding trial.”

The warrior was not lying.

The trials that the dense Divine Dungeon Shroud handed to various beings was certainly different. Mortals were different from adepts, Silver could never hold up against Gold—hence, if a Supreme champion was to enter the trial, the River God's remains would not have to use his trump card.

On the other hand, the genuine physical presence of a Legendary champion was worth Sinoer's showing His own true form and go all out.

Because he was not a deity at his peak, but the remnant thoughts of a long-perished one.

That was why the world shifted, and Joshua could sense innumerable information flowing through the link between him and the deity's mark, thereby materializing the illusory world.

As if the wheel of time was rewinding urgently, fragmented sights began to surface within the blurry world. First, it showed the main city of Moldavia which was quickly expanding, and then the Radcliffe family crypt that was relocated in the Great Ajax Mountains.

The River God's remains—the mark that was located deep within the Divine Dungeon Shroud began to study every detail of the warrior's memory, intending to find the weakness of the incredible trialist.

However, Joshua did not resist, and allowed the Sinoer to read his memories as he wished.

Leading the survivors through the Ural Mountains, meditating in the Seven God Church, speaking to Pope Igor… As if a roll of tape that goes on fast-rewind mode, past scenes replayed while the surrounding environment changed from ceaseless flowing rivers into ancient forests, the Gray Forests of the far sea and the depths of the Star Altar.

The vista switched once more, but now the chaotically changing world was beginning to scare the divine armament siblings. They subconsciously grasped the warrior's hand, intending to switch into weapon form—it was an instinct of theirs that they would be able to fearlessly challenge all unknowns as long as they could fight alongside the warriors.

Still, Joshua merely grasped their hands in return, having no inclination for combat.

Light and shadow kept fluctuating.

Journey across the Multiverse alongside the Initial Flame, the world of Grandia that fell into darkness, fighting against the old knight, undead general and titan… Joshua merely calmly—or perhaps confidently—watched it all as the River God relived everything in clarity.

Even so, all that the warrior had gone through was so cumbersome that the deity's remnant was dealt a monumental burden.

*****

Meanwhile, outside the shroud.

Around the trade routes near the Divine Dungeon Shroud, many adventurers and mercenaries who wanted to enter the shroud but worried over the risks had stopped beside the lake. They planned to buy information regarding the shroud that would leave people unconscious for days from the knights and students when Joshua's party prepared to leave so that they could be better equipped for their future adventurers.

But after a dozen minutes after the warrior and the others entered the shroud, the gathered adventurers had largely fallen into silence. Apart from a few who insisted on observing the dense shroud's reaction, most were already becoming distracted and began to chatter.

These dull circumstances changed when a mercenary who determinedly kept watch exclaimed in surprise.

”Heavens, the shroud is shining!”

The crowd exploded into an uproar. In seconds, countless pairs of eyes watched the nearby silver sea of shroud.

At that moment, the Divine Dungeon Shroud shifted tremendously.

Originally blanketed thousands of square meters and immeasurably substantial, any man who entered the shroud would vanish entirely after walking just a few meters as if devoured. Now, however, the shroud was thinning at an observable speed, the abilities on its edges weakening—they could now make out the figures of academy students who did not enter too far deep into the shroud.

Inversely, the concentrated shroud had condensed into a slowly whirling solid 'sphere' at its own center. It was unleashing incomparably bright green-blue radiance as if it was a green-blue sun itself. On the cellular level that normal people could not observe, the gigantic sphere of light was actually innumerable and dense soul particles that possessed a hint of divinity. Fervently pulling in every bit of energy around them while simultaneously calculating and thinking, each of these particles unleashed a bright radiance that proved that every single one of them under incredible stress.

In the meantime, Joshua's memories that were still being replayed in the deity's illusion had reached the distant past. It was one that made the silver-haired girl widened her eyes at every image around her, while Ling softly exclaimed too.

What they saw were sights before the warrior had made the contract—the war against the orcs at the Thomas Grand Canyon, life with the army in the Black Raven army, education in the Miskatonic Military Academy, the difficult training under the old butler and former liege in Moldavia… The memories gradually accelerated so much that the periods of years flashed by in seconds.

Thus, in less than half a minute, the River God has finished browsing Joshua van Radcliffe's life.

And yet, no trial designed for the warrior appeared.

”Urgh…”

As if sensing that His efforts were futile, a hint of a grudge appeared over Sinoer's gaze. He was but a mark left behind by a former god presently; his search for the trialist's weakness to give them the most suitable test was His duty and instinct. However, He still could not find a hint of fragility within the man before him even after reaching the edge of Joshua's memories.

To him, the seduction of gold and power were meaningless to him, while his relationships with women and friends were as tasteless as water—in fact, there was not even a trace of desire on this man for delicacies, fine wine or any form of enjoyment. In terms of ambition, the man had reached the mildest limit, none could tempt him lest there be something unexpected.

As for other aspects such as physical strength, skill, will, spirit, intelligence or luck, the man was above-par. Though there might be the occasional imperfections, there was nothing that Sinoer who was born a god could use. If the River God's remains was not merely a fragment left behind from prehistoric times, thereby focused solely on the legacy trial mission that His true form set in place when He was still alive, He would probably have ended the utterly meaningless search for weakness early on instead of falling into an irreversible death cycle.

However, for some reason, the replay had not ended despite the memories having reached its edge. Sinoer might not have noticed that the world around Him was altering.

The world had fallen into darkness, as if everything descended into a void.

At that moment, the warrior moved within the absolute lightlessness.

Lifting his foot within the pitch-blackness and subsequently putting it down, the black booted leg did not touch the empty void. Instead, it had stepped onto a distinct land that kept shifting.