Soul of Burning Steel

Just as Joshua was about to leave the cell hall, he felt a chaotic atmosphere spreading.

Plagues in the wizarding world have never been pure bacteria or creatures. Diseases without magic power or other supernatural factors can be easily eradicated no matter how serious they are.

In the black liquid formed from the flesh and blood of the cultist, there is a magic force eroded by chaos that is slowly growing. Although it appears very slow due to the strong positive energy light, it still spreads unswervingly towards the surroundings. I saw that the small cell had now become a scene from another world, and the disgusting turbid liquid was wriggling spontaneously on the stone slab, like a living thing.

Turning his head, Joshua watched this scene.

Black blood disease, a disease of chaos brought by the mad dragon.

In the previous life in the Far South, the dragon disaster from the deep sea suddenly destroyed half of the Southern Kingdom, and all the coastal areas fell without exception. Although the Far South Kingdom relied on its powerful latent power and human life, it forcibly built an incomparably strong central line of defense. , but there are still many places that have been abandoned helplessly, thus completely falling.

In the occupied areas, most of the human beings were devoured by the berserk dragon beasts, and a small number of powerful professionals also hid in Tibet, trying to survive in the cracks. With their adaptability, the battle situation gradually improved. With the help of adventurers—that is, players, the Kingdom’s army launched counterattacks again and again, and even recaptured several coastal fortresses, and used them as bases to fight one by one. Point to regain lost ground.

What made this effort fall short was black blood.

It was the end of the year 833 of Starfall, on a cold winter day, amid heavy snowfall, a shivering man came to the gate of the fortress of the port of Far South Hal.

He was drenched in black blood, but he was still breathing. The city guards recognized him as a well-known elf adventurer who went deep into the jungle to explore the habitat of dragon beasts a few days ago, so they rushed to meet him. After realizing that the other party was close to coma, the city guards sent the delirious man to the medical center of the fortress.

Along the way, this groaning aborigine adventurer was dripping with black blood all over his body, giving off an incomparably stench, but since this is the front line after all, no one cared about the smell of blood, so until he was taken No one thought there was anything wrong with sending it to the hospital. After all, there are countless kinds of weird creatures and dragon beasts in the jungle. Maybe this adventurer was attacked by some kind of weird poisonous beast? After all, there are so many venoms that can make wounds impossible to heal, too many to care.

All in all, everyone did not understand the seriousness of this matter.

In the medical hall, the doctor and the priest who rushed over to treat the adventurer cooperated. Using potions and magic spells together, the elf's trauma was quickly cured. The black blood no longer flowed out, but the situation was reversed. It got worse—under the shocking gaze of everyone, the adventurer's body began to swell as he howled in pain, and the flesh and blood all over his body swelled at a speed visible to the naked eye. Finally, with a convulsive sound After screaming, the elf adventurer exploded violently, and liquefied flesh and internal organs sprayed out, splashing the entire hospital.

The strange way of death, and because the poor patient was not rescued, both the doctor and the pastor felt very depressed. They naturally noticed the chaotic atmosphere hidden in the corpse of the dead adventurer and purified it. It is the toxin of some kind of new crazy dragon, just like the giant scorpion in the desert, it has a terrible venom that can dissolve human flesh and blood, but it is even more terrifying. The antidote is used to prepare for this new unknown mad dragon, and the adventurers have also begun to make corresponding plans.

They thought they were perfectly prepared.

But in fact it didn't.

The chaos lurking in the shadows has already spread to the entire city with the dripping of black blood. On the first day, 60% of the people in Fort Howl collectively felt uncomfortable, and on the second day, 4% Fifteen people felt that they were sick, and there was a strange sound of liquid flowing in their bodies. On the third day, a large amount of coughing up blood appeared. Except for the gold-level powerhouse who was not affected much, all other members seemed to have extremely strong discomfort symptom.

Until then, everyone felt that something was wrong. Perhaps it was not toxin, but some kind of unknown plague—but it was too late, and everything was irreparable.

A week later, except for the three gold-level powerhouses who were at a loss and on the verge of collapse, everyone in Fort Hal turned into bones and blood flowing everywhere. The clean and tidy port turned into a bloody purgatory. , The stench is not bound by the cold, and spreads wantonly with the north wind.

The name of black blood has spread throughout the world.

Joshua had personally experienced this disease in his previous life, but it was already in the late stage of the plague. Through the treatment of high-level magic, the soldier did not die because of it, but he could fully understand that part of the body was destroyed by an unknown existence. The feeling of melting little by little.

This is even more disgusting than being eaten bit by bit by a beast.

"As long as you reach the golden state, your extraordinary body can easily resist the invasion of this disease, but if you don't reach the golden state, even if you are just a little bit short, you will be easily infected."

Whispering to himself, Joshua couldn't help recalling the past days of fighting against the plague. It was really a difficult time. Countless people were defeated by the disease and turned into a pool of warm, turbid and black blood. , leaving only fragile bones and skins suspended on the foul-smelling liquid.

But while cold can't stop the spread of this plague, fire can.

Raising his hand, the soldier snapped his fingers, and suddenly black and red flames appeared out of thin air on the squirming black blood, fighting spirit mixed with the power of order, completely purifying it from the beginning to the end, the cultist's As a result, the corpse was completely reduced to ashes - the plague had eroded the bones long ago, and now the thing is no stronger than a few biscuits.

Looking indifferently at the black liquid being completely dried up by the flames, Joshua shook his head, then turned and left.

The flame can completely burn all the substances that black blood relies on, and can completely burn it into ashes. In the plague area in the far south, as long as someone showed a little sign of weakness and infection, then crazy people would kill this person Throwing them into the fire, this crazy behavior accidentally killed many ordinary people who only had the occasional cold, but it did block the possibility of the plague spreading.

Because of the fluctuating vindictiveness and the sudden high fever, the comatose heretics also woke up one by one. These fanatics who used to utter obscenities in the face of Bishop Artanis now shrink back and tremble, silently. Keep silent, not daring to make a sound.

After watching the soldiers walk out of the cell hall step by step in horror, these cultists even rejoiced in their hearts. Even if they were tortured to death, they were unwilling to face the walking nightmare.

Outside the cell, Artanis was chatting with Ying and Rin.

The three of them asked and answered, and they seemed to be chatting happily, but because they sensed the footsteps of the soldiers, they all turned their heads together and looked towards the exit.

"What's the matter, Joshua, you came out so soon?"

The old bishop was a little surprised. He stroked his white beard and asked suspiciously: "Could it be that you want to use torture tools for torture? This is my mistake, and I forgot to prepare this thing."

As he spoke, he wanted to get up and ask for torture tools from the other guard knights.

"No, no need, I already know their purpose."

After stopping Artanis's actions with a voice, Joshua's tone was unprecedentedly serious, and his eyes revealed a kind of solemnity: "Maybe it's unbelievable, but..."

"I trust you."

After quickly interrupting Joshua's words, the old bishop's expression became solemn, he turned his head to look around, and said in a low voice, "Don't talk here, let's go upstairs."

"you're right."

Nodding and approving the old bishop's decision, the soldiers called Shangying and Rin to set off with the old bishop. Although the gods were a little puzzled, they followed in silence after seeing the rare and cautious attitude of the master.

The light of positive energy in the deepest cell gradually dimmed, and at Joshua's suggestion, Artanis called all the knights guarding the cell over, and they jointly activated the dungeon's locking system, which was immediately one meter thick. The thick steel layer completely isolated the deepest oval cell from other ordinary cells. To be on the safe side, the warrior asked the old bishop to perform a gold-level large-scale purification ceremony for them, completely purifying half of the dungeon. over again.

Although I don't know why the lord came out so quickly, and what news he got from the cultists, the knights also sensed a hint of danger from this action, and guaranteed that they would never open the sealed steel layer. After that, everyone left the dungeon.

Incidentally, during this process, Joshua turned his back to the knights.

"It's the plague."

While walking along the spiral corridor towards the surface of the church, Joshua whispered to Artanis: "These cultists intend to spread a deadly plague from the plague god."

He said so much for the time being, and told the confused old bishop why he was so cautious, and then more news, the soldiers were going to tell slowly in a safe environment.

You know, a dungeon is not a good place to talk.

The old bishop's eyes flickered in the darkness, and he nodded slowly, but he didn't make a sound. Obviously, Artanis probably guessed something from Joshua's previous request.

Everyone walked in silence, and they came to the first floor. They crossed the dark corridor and came to the stairs leading to the second floor after the mass hall. Just as everyone was about to find a closed room, they talked carefully about the plague of evil gods. While working, a blond man appeared in front of their eyes.

This man is tall, with a handsome face, but his expression is a bit tired, his eyes are tired and gloomy, it seems that he has not had a good rest for several days, he seems to have heard the footsteps of Artanis, and wants to talk to his old man. The bishop said hello, but unexpectedly saw Joshua's face, the man's eyes widened immediately, and a surprised voice blurted out: "Joshua?! Are you awake?!"

"Yes, my friend, I am awake."

There was also a smile on his serious face, and Joshua greeted the blond knight with a smile. He stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder: "I haven't seen you for a few days, Loranda, you look On the contrary, it's worse than mine."

"It's a long story...Looking at this expression, what important things are you guys going to discuss?"

Letting out a breath slowly, the paladin looked exhausted. He seemed to have a lot to say, but now he has no energy. Seeing this, the soldier simply shook his head and said: "Don't think too much, although I and Bishop Artanis does have something to talk about, but it's not important enough for you to get tired and participate."

"When I finish talking with the old bishop, I will let him tell you."

Although he wanted to refuse, Joshua did not give Loranda a chance to choose. In Ying and Rin's slightly apologetic farewell voices, the paladin could only stare blankly at Joshua and the old bishop walking quickly. On the second floor, my tired eyes were a little dull.

"I don't even have time to stop it... Sure enough, I should go to rest for a while."

Realizing that her condition was indeed very bad, Loranda shook her head involuntarily, and then walked towards her room.

On the way, he couldn't help but think of the phone call he had with Saint Igor—that is, His Majesty the Pope.

Since the paladin returned from another world three days ago, he hasn't had a good rest.

The first is to pray quietly, using holy light to dissolve the divine power left in his body by the Father of Nature.

Although the blessing of a god is indeed beneficial to him, the extra heterogeneous divine power is not a good thing for a paladin. Just to purify his own power, he spent a lot of money on Loranda. It took half a day, but relatively, after the purification, the paladin felt that his strength had improved a lot, and even approached the threshold of extreme intention.

Of course, Loranda felt extremely exhausted, but this was not the time to rest. He suppressed his drowsiness, sorted out his entire experience in another world overnight, and then quickly went to the communication circle of the cathedral to prepare to talk to the Pope. Your Majesty is calling.

But the people who answered were the Pope's guards. These loyal knights said that His Majesty the Pope was in the depths of the Great Temple, communicating directly with the gods, so he needed to wait for a while.

Naturally, Loranda would not raise any objections, but in order to wait until the Pope returned as soon as possible, he didn't even sleep or meditate, but stayed where he was wholeheartedly.

This wait is a whole day.

That is, almost half a day ago, the pope finally finished communicating with the gods and responded to Loranda's communication.

For his adopted son, Pope Igor, who is currently the strongest paladin of the younger generation of the Church of the Seven Gods, has great patience. Asking for details again and again expressed 100% trust.

"So... the father of nature, the evil god of natural disasters, the inheritance of sages and the king of burning souls?"

Nodding slowly, thousands of miles away, the image of His Majesty the Pope nodded slowly. The white-haired wise old man seemed to believe Lolanda's words completely.

"You believe me?!"

This made Lolanda very surprised. He didn't think that anyone would believe such a bizarre story, and he was just fulfilling his responsibility to tell the truth. He never expected the other party to believe it. But it was never expected that the old pope would believe his experience so easily.

"Don't be surprised, my child, I have a hunch about this."

Igor said slowly, his eyes shone with wisdom: "The fluctuations produced when an ancient god radiates power with all his strength are enough to cross the distance of several worlds. I have noticed this a long time ago, but I didn't I thought you were a part of it too."

After a pause, the pope slowed down, and asked tentatively, "Now you have also faced the army of chaos and the body of the evil god with your own eyes... about this, Lolanda, what do you think? "

Hearing the old pope's question, Lolanda couldn't help being silent for a while. He seemed to be recalling, and then slowly said in a cautious tone: "Your Majesty, this is the first time I have seen such a It is also the first time for the huge Chaos army to face these enemies without knowing anything and having no other comrades in arms."

"I don't know what kind of world it is, I don't know how far the civilization of that world has developed, I don't even know why the father of nature sleeps there, and how the elves' civilization was born, but there is only one thing I understand that they are also comrades-in-arms against Chaos."

Although weak, but just as firm, this belief can be easily understood without words.

Loranda showed a bit of firmness on her haggard face because she hadn't rested for many days: "As you said, Joshua did tell me some truths. He said that a fire needs fuel to burn. Although the world It is order, but it is also built in the void of chaos... If the fire in our world is close to extinguishing, then we must continuously introduce the power from chaos to burn, just like his family and other guardian families have done .”

"You already know that."

The Pope nodded slowly with some relief: "Since you already know, then I don't need to keep it a secret from you... Yes, because of the war in the last era, the fire in our world has already been nearly extinguished. In order to continue the burning of the initial fire, we have to There must be fuelwood for chaos, and the sealed land leading to the world of evil gods is the most stable source of chaos power."

"So, their sacrifices are meaningful, right?"

After being silent for a long time, with complex lights shining in his eyes, Lolanda took a deep breath, and then asked again in a heavy tone: "For the continuation of our world, necessary sacrifices must be made...they Not worthless death, is it?"

"Of course, my child."

The gray-haired old man, Pope Saint Igor of the Church of the Seven Gods, nodded in a solemn and deeply respectful tone: "Whether it is your comrade-in-arms who sacrificed, or the knight who lost his life because of it before, they are all A hero of mankind."

And on the second floor.

After telling the old bishop everything, Joshua closed his eyes and began to recall the past.

Artanis, on the other hand, tightly grasped the armrest of the seat, with a dignified and serious face.

"I will ask No. 3 to pay attention to the health of the citizens of the city, and the church should also send a large number of priests and knights to go around to check whether there is a lurking plague in various towns."

After being silent for a long time, Joshua said in a deep voice: "As for me, I will go to the imperial capital, report this matter to His Majesty the Emperor, and solve it. The other three territories in the Northern Territory must also know about this matter as soon as possible." matter."

"It's natural."

The old bishop nodded and accepted the matter as a matter of course, but he looked a little puzzled: "But how do you solve this matter? Unlike physical enemies, this is an invisible disease that cannot be destroyed with fists and weapons .”

"I have my own way."

The soldier looked at the south with a sneer, his eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the void, looking directly at the place where the plague originated, the place where the dragon was raging, the battlefield where he had fought, Joshua's eyes are now full of indifference, and a little Hidden in the depths, it seems to be a burning flame: "No one understands these things better than me."

Those believers of evil gods who spread the plague and tried to harvest countless lives never dreamed that there would be an existence like him in this world.

Warriors know this plague better than even cultists.

5600 words...more chapters to follow!