Chapter 1051: Thus, Returning!
After the fall of the stars, the land was a beautiful heavenly realm filled with myriad-colored nebulae. The broiling air stream formed after countless stars had shattered mixed into one, kicking up stardust upon the Steel Continent. Meanwhile, endless rays were intertwining, coloring the aftermath of devastation as colorfully as paradise.
However, even if most of the destructive magnitude of the impact force and supernova explosions would be dampened by the Steel Continent, the environment several light-years around the rain of stars would no longer habitable before the new stars could cool and be born.
And in spite of its history, most advanced technology, and its defensive spells, the same thing had happened to Bright Splendor City.
Mara Monica, the First Steward of the Order of the Ashes, tiredly arrived upon the center square in Bright Splendor City. She, along with the other Stewards, had worked together to keep the city’s barrier stable, blocking waves after waves of stellar bombardment, or else the full brunt of the impact would not have been stopped after Karlis and her group had sabotaged a part of the divine power spell.
It would have been fine if it was only Mara who was struck by the rain of stars. Her power was profound enough to have a stroll in the surges of explosions or take a walk along the edge of an event horizon. As the most powerful Extraordinary individual of the Order of the Ashes, her place was above every leader in the Alliance, and only next to the Heavenly Sword Empress and the Demon Cleaving Emperor who wielded the most powerful divine items. Even so, it was still extremely difficult for her to distribute her power and protect the massive Bright Splendor City, with it being a moving world and having a radius beyond 70,000 kilometers.
“Damn it!”
Despite her usual fine temper, the First Steward was now glaring tightly where Karlis and the rest had left from the city square and seethed viciously, “What is that group of ancient awakened actually going to do?! Are they not a part of this world as well? Why would they stop us from saving the world!”
Furthermore, how did they learn about the coordinates of the Bright Splendor City?! That was a top secret even within the Order—even if Grong had been giving directions, they should never have reached them so quickly, even planning a blindside with falling stars in the process! There must have been some one who had leaked the information!
The other Stewards and Legendary champions who landed in the center square were also equally extremely puzzled, with one elderly furrowing his brow. “Leaving that aside—perhaps they have their own plans to save the world which require the souls of the Children of the Stars as well? The Celestial Synth Souls is certainly a power which we have yet to comprehend, but ancient champions such as them might perhaps understand some of the mysteries therein…”
“How could that be?! We have definitely covered every course—there absolutely isn’t any other way to save this world in the Three Worlds and Nine Skies apart from synthesizing the sacred souls!”
Mara’s words were firm and assured. The results of the research personally conducted by generation after generation of leaders serving the Order of the Ashes across dozen thousand years was the undoubtable truth. Even so, neither rage nor complaint would mean a thing—she turned, and asked somberly, “Is there still a way to salvage all this? We still have eight crystal obelisks supplying us with energy… and adding ourselves, could we still keep the Shadow Orbit running but on lower capacity?”
In response, the other Stewards who were responsible for that undertaking shook their heads, with one of them saying regrettably, “I’m afraid it wouldn’t do. There is just no way with the present technology we have.”
“Moreover, First Steward, the most critical problem we have now is probably not the shrinking of the Radiant Domain or that the Nightfall Zone is almost fading…right now, what we must stand watch over is the escalating and ever-violent invasion of Chaos.”
That was certainly the truth, and even Mara herself could only breathe a prolonged sigh. Karlis and the others spiriting away the Celestial Synth Souls notwithstanding, the impending calamity of Chaotic invasion would only ever come. Even if those ancient champions never did awaken, they would still have to repel those aberrations.
“Because we have been moving the stars for so long and left the Nightfall Zone dying a slow death, it is no different from us nullifying a natural barrier and seal.”
A rather young female Steward with long, coiled hair was clenching the scepter in her hand, her faint green pupils looking around at the almost fantastical nebula wafting around the Bright Splendor City and her tone rather bitter. “The light of the stars could purify and stop a smaller swarm of Chaos. It is a naturally divine barrier which could protect the colonies from Chaos invasion—but now, the Nightfall Zone which is just a little darker is full of holes and would hence become a base, allowing the Chaos a free pass into the Radiant Domain itself.”
“If the Sacred Soul Project doesn’t succeed and we cannot create our own Father, Mother, or World Will, we will die to the Chaos even before the Flame of our world would die.”
“…This isn’t good. We must make haste for Academy City!”
Things were so bad that Mara’s hand was shaking after she listened carefully to a report from her subordinate who was speaking to her from a communications spell. “They have detected a Chaos swarm whose vanguard is of more than three trillion surging towards the Southern Constellation, with many more behind them. The Academy City would never stand!”
Even if the nations would give them a wide berth, the Order of the Ashes would still act as guardians of the civilization. Moreover, the Academy City was a gathering place, a storehouse of all Lightchaser knowledge and legacies—every Lightchaser even had the mutual understanding that should calamity strike, the Bright Splendor City and the Sky Blade Realm could be allowed to fall… but the Academy City must remain ever unscathed!
A brief rest, and they moved out—even after being raided, the Order of the Ashes stepped up without regard for themselves, prepared to go forth and aid the others who served the Order.
Still, just as the massive saucer-shaped mobile city shone in blue boundary halation, in the split second that the entire city began to distort space itself, a single voice echoed from afar.
***
Those were ancient words that embodied copious, profound power. Even if it was echoing from the distance, it seemed to ring right beside one’s ears—no matter who it was: Legend, Steward, ordinary human, or a follower of the Order of the Ashes, all that were sentient were able to hear that voice.
Every person present was very familiar with that voice, too.
It was Karlis, the champion who had just raided their city and taken away the Children of the Stars.
“What is she actually saying?”
Stunned by the voice that seemed to echo throughout the Three Worlds and Nine Skies, Mara looked up at the skies of the Radiant Domain which still remained in brilliant splendor. She asked the question blankly, as if she would get an answer.
Still, someone did answer.
“It’s…a call for help.”
The Eleventh Steward, who was once instructed by the former God of Knowledge and History, had incidentally been educated in various ancient languages. As he listened to the voice, he was also repeating them with slight difficulty, “She is calling out…seeking help…she wants to awaken something, and to have everything…”
“To have everything, what?”
The Eleventh Steward was silent for a moment, before saying quietly, “To reignite everything.”
The translated worlds left every leader of the Order in bewilderment. Be it Mara or the other Stewards, they could not help but to want to laugh, albeit a sad one.
Asking for help in the Three Worlds and Nine Skies?
Asking from whom, and who is there who could help?
If merely calling out would have helped, if just asking for help would have worked, the cries for help of all Lightchasers would have drowned the entire world—in the dozens of thousands of years when the gods were lost and there was only bewilderment, the Lightchasers had been calling out for salvation all along. It was only the Order of the Ashes who acted, creating a future for themselves with their own hands.
No one could save anyone, nor were there anyone who had to be saved. Every individual was only able to rely upon themselves, and at least, it was the one dependable truth.
Still, those who were laughing in misery never knew about certain facts.
That the seemingly simple call for help had gathered the sweat piling from an entire race for untold years and almost the entirety of their bloodline.
That behind the simple call, it was the ashes left after the Silver Fairies were burnt entirely.
Moreover, it was not quite an appeal for saving, but an effort, the manifestation of a spirit.
It wafted through the world, and rather than a lament, it was rather a call of rising fighting spirit—the voice reached straight into the Nine Skies and deep into the land, permeating all that exist.
Thus, as countless individuals looked on blankly, heaven and earth rumbled.
Of the Three Worlds which had stagnated for a hundred and twenty thousand years, the two realms of the Sky Blade and the Earthen Axe were pulling themselves bit by bit out from the Steel Continent under the call of that voice and violent tremors, energizing and awakening.
***
Meanwhile, at the heart of the Alliance, the edge of the accretion disk of the giant dark star—the Heavenly Blade Empress was keeping watch at the central zone, the closest spot to the axis of the Three World and Nine Skies, looking on as stars descended in a shower and sank into the accretion disk of the dark star amidst the depths of the Radiant Domain. She could feel her item shaking—the most powerful divine item from the Nine Skies hummed, pulsating from its very soul, just as it beat at her own heart like a drum.
“Are you calling for him?”
The beautiful lady named Yolanda, who resembled an elf with violet hair and golden-emerald pupils, pressed a hand over her saber, the divine blade which was a core fragment of the Realm of the Blade. A friend of the scholar Mycroft, who also thoroughly admired Karlis and sent her off towards the Nightfall Zone as the top leader of the Alliance, breathed a soft sigh, her expression one that was between joy and sadness.
“For real… please hurry up and come back.”
At the edge of the Nightfall Zone and in the center of endless swarms of Chaos, an imposing man who resembled a dwarf with white hair and beard was swinging his black great axe and slaying all darkness that would stand its way. Even in the heat of the battle, the Demon Cleaver named Ezerg narrowed his eyes and giggled before breaking out in sonorous laughter—raising his great axe, ripples of destruction spread across all directions, reducing all oncoming Chaos into fine particles and returning them to the darkness.
“Are you getting excited? Me too!”
In the time and world which had long since become rotten and decayed, the gods who had perished and return could once again witness the variable called hope.
“What is actually happening with the world?”
What was even going on?
The members of the Order of the Ashes were left agape and uncertain. As time passed, they could only see that before the shifting across the Three Worlds and Nine Skies ended, the endless stars were fading, beginning from the faraway darkened Nightfall Zone.
Because a great gloom was extending from the faraway Lightless Zone.
It was a black dragon which was so massive it was comparable to a world, so large that its body covered the many skies.
The creature had come from the edge of the world, its scale being of such pitch blackness that it was no different from the Abyss. It spread its wings and thousands of stars were hence shrouded in the curtain of darkness and extinguished rapidly—the dragon then breathed a draconic howl which left the nine skies shaken, while also creating a storm that easily doused the countless stellar bodies as if they were frail candles.
They could see the brightest of crystal cores embedded on the chest of the black dragon, the only night and star amidst the gloom. It was flashing rapidly, churning dimensions and rendering all distances meaningless.
It was also absorbing the energy from the thousands of stars and becoming even brighter.
“A god of the Chaos?!”
A Steward exclaimed in shock. It was remarkably similar to the description found in ancient text of a horrific Chaos monster which had appeared in the battles against the Chaos after the gods had fallen, an abomination awakening from the borders between light and dark to consume all light and Order…but that notion was at once refuted by the others.
“No, no—that light is so sacred…far holier than the millions of stars!”
The black dragon rapidly streaked past them since everything on the ground had nothing to do with itself, and it only left billowing dimensional storms in the realm. In the various decaying moving worlds, the Lightchasers who had long since forgotten their own honor and civilization looked up curiously. A group of people who had been perpetually busy with farming and breeding without any time to look up at the stars, they could now see that after the black dragon had extinguished the stars, countless more stars were taking their place like streaking meteors.
Those were radiance, almost endless and streaking flashes covering the canopy above—even if the black dragon darkened all stars along its wake and used them as its own power, beyond the gloom it left were lights shining out of billions of warships!
Over the Nine Skies, rumbling steel resounded from every reach. Countless different Extraordinary powers, even pure mechanical strength, was unleashing jet streams, barriers, flames, all of which were the most distinct and brightest light there was!
All of them were dancing, flashing, warping away before reappearing over the vast nine skies, no different from the glimmering starlight in the Void of the Multiverse!
What had actually happened?!
Still, there was no question that those were the greatest of upheavals, with all fates, destinies, the predetermined, and even the near eternal orbits of the stars now left in disarray, torn apart, and reduced to nothing. The darkened future that shrouded above the heads of every Lightchaser was no exception: be it impending destruction or rebirth, it was no longer fated despair, at the very least!
Everyone from the Order of the Ashes and the Alliance nations which had Legendary champions were all left at a loss. It was not as if the champions of the Lightchasers were reluctant to stop the black dragon from continuing its destruction of the stars, but regardless if they could win against it, the beast was flying above the Nine Skies—the top of the nine floating continents that not even the gods could reach! Despite the unimaginably horrifying gravity barrier of the Steel Continent which stopped almost all beings from reaching the peak of the heavens, it was essentially useless to it, for the black dragon could soar in such freedom that was no different from her home and without any burden!
“Ah—look!”
Soon after the black dragon had darted towards the center of the Radiant Domain, the Stewards of the Order of the Ashes who had yet to recover from their sheer astonishment exclaimed in surprise again. One of them, a robust Steward with hands resembling crab pincers of glimmering steel luster, pointed at the skies, with everyone else looking towards where he pointed before being left utterly stunned.
They saw it then: The Sky Blade and the Earthen Axe which stood upon the Steel Continent and crossed against each other in an ‘X’ were now shifting powerfully. Amidst a profound dimensional distortion phenomenon, the realms that resembled weapons—or, to be precise, weapons that resembled realms—were, as the Three Worlds and Nine Skies shook, parted from the entire silver world that was the Steel World!
The sturdy World Barrier was hence torn open, or as one would say, parting itself to make a door: as one massive rift began to open slowly and the infinite Void of the Multiverse beyond was revealed, the two massive world weapons parted, shooting towards two different sides of the Void outside the rift. They were heading towards two world-sized structures covered in darkness but resembled hands, and were then clenched by it!
Sword and axe had reclaimed their place!
As the two realms trembled and left, the stars which had once latched on to the Sky Blade realm and the Earthen Axe realm swiftly died, obliterated—meaning that the brightest and most prosperous core area of the Radiant Domain was now completely claimed by darkness. If one had been looking out from the distant region of the Lightless Zone, they would see the two massive areas of dark shadows abruptly appearing over the Radiant Domain and spreading without end!
An apocalypse! A cataclysm!
Although most moving realms in the Radiant Domain had sufficient reserves of energy to keep running under darkness for a certain period, that did not take account to the sheer gloom caused by having two out of the three worlds detaching. Things would have been alright in cases of warships, but an entire moving realm would not be able to escape the shadows, a fact that at once left countless Lightchasers despairing within the dark with the belief that the apocalypse had come.
What they were thinking was certainly not wrong—it was indeed the apocalypse.
But that did not mean that there would not be anyone there to help them.
Right after the two worlds had detached from the silver world, the flashes which were streaking through the dark skies were beginning to descend one after another. The innumerable armadas of Void warships which had been warping and following behind the black dragon were also making their way towards the many mobile cities above the land. The Lightchasers, imagining that they would be invaded and plundered even after their world had just fallen, only realized in surprise then that the many alien races which had come in their massive vessels and spoken a strange language had also opened their cargo hold, yelling for them to get in so that they could be transported away, while also maintaining order over the cities.
In their many battles against the swarms of Evil Gods, the countless warships of the Multiverse Union had already been trained in a remarkably efficient evacuation system. For them, moving the citizens within worlds or entire planets was a specialty.
Moreover, aside from the warships that were as numerous as the stars intent on emptying all of the Three Worlds and Nine Skies, there were even more warships and powerful champions positioned in the darkest reaches of the Lightless Zone where the Lightchasers would never be able to see. They were fighting against the almost endless hordes of Chaos, keeping that darkness which could easily wipe out the entire Radiant Domain firmly where they were, even rapidly culling them.
In the end, unable to stand the odd turn of events and whatnot that was happening over the entire world, a single flash of light took to the air in the Bright Splendor City. It was the Mara Monica, the First Steward, who stood before a Void warship flying on a low altitude and blocked its way—her spirit spread, as she doubtfully, bewilderedly, and obstinately tried to the get to the bottom of the matter, interrogating the alien navigators of the ship that resembled plants.
“You…why did you come here?”
The aliens, which called themselves the Midgardians, whose attitudes were also as friendly as plants simply smiled in return.
[We have come to honor an oath!]
Because we have come for the one who had forged Order upon worlds, the pioneer of the Multiverse Union, our god, our faith, our savior and guardian, leader of all ideals!
At the same time, as if to agree with the Midgardians, others voices spoke out from amongst the endless fleet, answering Mara and the question which perhaps all Lightchasers wanted an answer to.
[We have come to fulfill a promise!]
It was a race whose name was not known—their warships had just streaked past in a flash, but their bold laughter still echoed across the realm.
For the Guardian of all Order, for the creator of the Mana Net, the first implementor of the Redemption System, the founder of spirit entertainment culture in the Multiverse, bringing us peace, stability, and all that is precious. That is whom we have come for!
[We have come for our ideals!]
Soon after them, the voice of a devout reached Mara—it was the spiritual resonance of a certain psionic race. There was incomparable steadfastness in their words as if they were reading scripture, their words as firm as a hammer knocking on an anvil.
For the Demi Saint God, the demon slaying saint, the banisher of all darkness had protected our home world, a cosmic deity who had brought future and hope to our civilization. That is whom we have come for!
[We have come to protect!]
A plain human fleet echoed gently, steering silver-white Holy Light warships that darted through the Nine Skies like light itself—they were executors of the path of Holy Light who aided all whom needed it, embodying the heart of Order.
To awaken the nemesis of darkness, the destroyer of Chaos, to raise the ancient flag once again, to once again sound the horn for the light that retaliates against the origins of all gloom. That is whom we have come for!
[We have come for the resistance!]
As if steel scraping upon steel, a hoarse but stubborn voice that seemed to be speaking from the depths of the Abyss resounded, and yet that frightening voice seemed to carry a searing will as if shouting.
Because of the last god of war of the worlds which had obliterated the primordial calamities, because of that great war and slaughter, the sacrifice and offering which determined everything a hundred and twenty thousand years ago. That is whom we have come for!
[We have come for honor!]
A massive stellar warship was kicking up a distorted dimensional trail. The high-spirited and vigorous humans crewing it had long since buried the Flag of Starfall, which was now ancient history: they were the heirs of the Mycroftians, hoisting their colors and journeying towards the center of the world.
To revive the God of the Stars, the Steel Maker, to have the resplendent sun rise for a second time upon our civilization, the champion who is destined to lead us to the end of the cycle of tragedy. That is whom we have come for!
[We have come for Order, Future and hope!]
Just like the raging torrent of the oceans, unending surging cries echoed. Those were the exclamations of worlds and races, the voices of hearts ablaze and emanating endless light!
Because the Giant God who saved the world, the stronghold of Order, the man of solitude who guided realms forward and shouldered the hopes of all life—all of us have come for that most powerful god who had sacrificed himself so that his flame could illuminate all worlds!
[We had come for salvation, a tomorrow and to answer a call!]
[We had come so that this world could reignite, and hence crossed the multitude of stars and realms to reach this place!]
The roar of colossal black dragon reverberated throughout the Nine Skies. Upon her back, there were countless familiar champions just as there were also countless fallen—every single being who were still alive and were able to make it in time, each existence whom that man from the past was familiar with and had a connection with had all gathered here.
And all of them were not hesitating, moving at the top of their speed for the center of the world where the dark giant star was!
For our King of Searing Souls, for the Lord of all Armies in the Multiverse, for the Master, for the comrade, for the admired of many, for the worshipped of many!
We are those who know that ancient history, people who have never forgotten the past myth and legend!
We are the witnesses of that battle, the blaze brightly alight a hundred and twenty thousand years ago!
We have come for Joshua van Radcliffe!
That is whom we have come for!
***
[Memories die. All that are left are legends of old recorded within the books, for history is only too often forgotten, leaving only echoes of myths reverberating amidst ruins.]
[Looking at the stars from afar, there would only be ever-present perished memories. Some of them would be left forgotten, some of them kept at heart—but following the untold, prolonged epochs, regardless of how glorious a tale it is or how majestic an epic, everything would slowly wear away and slowly dissolve like tears in the rain.]
But now was not the era to be forgetful.
Now was not the moment to let memories slip!
Even those individuals and races who could not remember Joshua’s name at all or did not know of his feats, as those people deliberately pushed things along and the imposing request of certain civilizations, all of them had certainly used, experienced, and were actually still a customer of things which that man had left behind. Whether it would be the Spirit Terminals, Mana Net, forum templates, or virtual reality games—as long as they had used such things and made a living through the Redemption System, all of them would have stumbled upon the name which that man had left on certain places, consuming inventions he worked with others to make!
He was the first to invent all of that in the civilization of this era.
His name had never truly been left in stillness or had been genuinely lost. In the dark Multiverse, there would always be those who would keep reminding all the beings in this world that, though he had long since been gone, he was never ever forgotten.
Hence, the endless Void armadas were following after the Black Dragon from the edge of the world, advancing in great numbers. While every Lightchaser looked on in astonishment, terror, as well as a beseeching with the faintest trace of hope, the ships arrived upon the center of the Three Worlds and Nine Skies where the dark giant star was.
At that very moment, all the stars which were shining had gone out completely—in the former Three Worlds and Nine Skies, the present Steel Continent, all was gradually returning to dullness. Every trace of energy was dissipating, whereas every form of motion was slowing down.
Time was stagnating, while space was being compressed. Energies were dying while all that was physical had been engulfed in the gloom. Elements and ether were still, Holy Light and Shadows obliterated—even the most primitive of lifeforce and the magical radiance of creation were slowly reduced to nothing amidst the stillness of equality.
The six-fold boundaries of death were respectively the fading of the will to fight, the loss of spirit, the death of the body, the stillness of the soul, the loss of a memory, and the passing of an existence.
It was the most genuine of rules, the most definitive of reality. Such was the Truth which applied to all domains in the Multiverse.
Even so.
Even so!
The will to fight of the warrior had yet to fade!
The spirit of the warrior was still passed on!
The body of the warrior was not yet destroyed!
The soul of the warrior was still fighting!
“All the beings in the Multiverse still trust in your power and call upon your name!”
In front of the Core Ignition before the giant dark star, Zero Three’s voice resounded alongside the dragon’s cry, with the Steel Pythons and the many champions all declaring in one voice, “Your memory has not been forgotten! Your existence has not diminished!”
“Return! Reignite! Now is precisely the moment that the darkness would come! The warped hand of the Chaos is still spreading from the distant reaches of Origins—the battle of the Wise Ones is locked in a stalemate, but that is both the direst situation as well as your favorite place, a challenge which you enjoy the most!”
Their calls shook their world, their shouts killing the stars—as the gods who had come dashing in from the other side all sonorously invoke a single name.
“Return! Burn anew, Joshua van Radcliffe! Your enemy is still here in this Multiverse!”
At that very moment, every single light had died out.
And yet, the world which was deathly still did not respond at all to the calls of every existing being.
Still, that was not the ending, because as all living beings were left in silence and everything was engulfed in the coldest of death, and the world itself began to truly step towards their end, the endless realms within the body of the Giant God who had long since passed away began to fight against death itself with the most upset of wrath!
Hence, the faintest of sparks was thus set aflame because of the heart of conflict at the precise center of the world.
It had nothing to do will the invoking, hope, or even expectations and the future. The Flame of conflict was ever so pure that its small light could glimmer and illuminate its vicinity so faintly. The faintness did not actually signify anything, because it was the tiny divide between light and dark, the border between life and death, the boundary between cold and warmth—it was separation and contrast, conflict and contradicting, the divide between existence and oblivion, the border between life and death.
[It is war.]
As death comes to an end, the new would hence be born.
As the Flame goes out, the ashes would burn anew.
The death and end of an existence was the return and rebirth of another!
***
Meanwhile, Alpha Falster was holding a small silver chest and walking amidst the dark World Inner.
The trail to the shrine was infinitely long as much as it was one step away. Stars were streaming towards different directions like separate rivers beside Alpha, but they had all now paused and ceased all movement. Likewise, the Vault of Stars which should had been far high above and shining dazzlingly was now a sheet of gloom as well.
Even so, Alpha did not at all understand what everything he saw meant. Step after step, he simply and determinedly stepped forward in his body which was virtually no different from mortal flesh into the heart of the World Inner, towards the most imposing throne of the shrine.
Following the Age of Chaos, the race known was the Silver Fairies were the Giant God of Steel’s earliest and also last spawns. Now, the man who shouldered every single responsibility, the entrustment of Steel Pythons, the hopes of many champions, the futures of all Lightchasers, and the expectations of trillions of beings was holding the tiny chest before his body and was claiming the steps up to the throne.
Then, he began to pray serenely.
Dear God.
The Creator of all life and all thing in this realm, our Father who had molded the Nine Skies and the Three Worlds.
As increasingly profuse and heavy presence was thrown upon him as he climbed the steps, the blessings and protections of the many champions also began to shine upon Alpha’s body. Even so, those powers were not at all useful, because everything that did not belong to the Steel Continent were insignificant and nonexistent to the highest power that dwelled within—the journey hence depended upon one’s own heart.
Hence, Alpha continued praying softly.
Dear Father.
If you could really awaken.
Please grant the most insignificant and ordinary of happiness upon the suffering beings.
I pray not that my daughter is brought back to me or that I be glorified, nor do I beseech that the weak and the innocent could be granted rebirth, or that the millions of moving worlds and faded stars would come to life again.
Though I am mourning, I ask not for hope.
Though I am left at a loss, I do not desire for anything.
I just wish that the sun exists, and Order can continue on.
Our dear Creator.
I only yearn that you can bring us true light to keep illuminating this land which has seemed eternally bright, but is only ever overflowing with despair and darkness.
And that…is all there is to it.
The man prayed as he climbed step aft step towards the top of the throne. Beneath the darkened Vault of Stars above the World Inner and encircled by the streams of motionless stars, Alpha gently placed the silver chest onto the Throne of Steel which was infinitely spectacular, and was also now devoid of might but exuding only a tender warmth.
Before the silver chest and the imposing throne, Alpha had quietly voiced his wish. Still, it was as if he was muttering to himself without any intention of getting a response.
However, he received an answer.
“No.”
The answer had reached him from the throne.
The answer had also reached him from the dark skies above.
The answer had even reached him from every corner and every tiniest spot of the Three Worlds and Nine Skies.
“I refuse to grant you your wish.”
Alpha looked up in shock but he could see nothing, not to mention that he had already left the World Inner since some unknown point in time. Still, in the end, he appeared to catch a glimpse of some light that shone from the dark vault above—at the same time, every person inside or outside the world, all the people and all the beasts had all heard it as long as they were able to hear.
The Chaos which was rampaging across the world, along with the Evil Gods swarming beyond it across endless distance—all of them had stopped moving, frozen in place upon hearing that that grand, deep voice.
A voice which had appeared once again upon the Multiverse.
“Because I demand that all of you must yearn for the extravagance of greatness beyond greatness.”
“Because I demand that all of you must greed for a hope that is greater than hope itself.”
“If there is no courage to actually bear such greed and no imagination for such yearning, one would only be fated to be meat for others, falling down on your own knees, bending yourself to yield before the hollow future that darkness and the Chaos promises.”
The great voice rumbled thunderous with divine might and resounded over the Multiverse. When they heard that familiar voice which seemed to not have changed at all, black dragon, Artificial Intelligence, Steel Python, human being, along with every other race and being which had held expectations felt warm tears welling in their eyes.
In the mean time, that voice was stubbornly declaring his will to all of the Multiverse.
“Normal happiness? I would never allow that!”
“All of you deserve the greatest future!”
***
In the center of the realm of Steel, the faint Flame of War had completely died out.
But at the same time, on the small chest upon the throne within the World Inner, a seed which someone had left a hundred and twenty thousand years again was being restored from the stillness of Divine Death!
Thus, light began to shine!
In the Void of the Multiverse, a simmering crack of immeasurable proportions appeared instantly, stretching across boundless distance!
The splendor of the Initial Flame illuminated the vicinity of the great crack, with infinite faith and prayers converging upon it.
Hence, exclamations echoed!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Against death! Against the future! Against the Chaos!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Be it life or death, existence or oblivion, past or future, there was only eternal, incessant battle!
“Your life and mine, the fate of all things across worlds, as well as the yearning for happiness, purpose, connections, and the things that are cherished!
“The future of the Multiverse, the end of the eternal struggle between Order and Chaos, along with the outcome of all trust, invocation, courage, and will to fight!”
“All those struggles!”
In the Void, the sacred and might voice echoed. The resounding horn and the thunderous war drum echoed throughout worlds, while endless divine power was reaching out from the depths of the Root!
The voice of the one deity was resonating across the horizon and sweeping throughout the entire Multiverse!
“How could it be surrendered before fighting!”
A new Flame was burning anew, and the silver continent was shining infinitely once more!
The eyes of countless Lightchasers and the countless beings from other worlds across the Multiverse hence turned and were fixated upon it.
Ah, the Flame, the Flame.
The light that once illuminated the dark Multiverse now illuminated the nine stars and brightened all living things in the three worlds. It once again erupted away from the pitch-black core, before igniting the Continent of Steel.
***
Hence, in the dark Void of the Multiverse, the dark World Barrier which was left dimmed for over a hundred and twenty thousand years began to stir with radiant ripples of silver and crimson.
In the Void, the four-armed god who was clenching his weapons opened his eyes once more, with inexhaustive fighting spirit and divine radiance swirling and brewing within. A long time had passed, and yet the Flame which the light ignited had not dimmed a fraction, but instead burned with greater vigor.
The Giant God raised his sword and axe.
Because he could sense that there was still a fight to be had in the world, that there was still the will to fight, and because he could sense that there all living beings still had the courage for resistance!
Therefore, the one born to fight had hence returned!
Chapter 1051: Thus, Returning!
After the fall of the stars, the land was a beautiful heavenly realm filled with myriad-colored nebulae. The broiling air stream formed after countless stars had shattered mixed into one, kicking up stardust upon the Steel Continent. Meanwhile, endless rays were intertwining, coloring the aftermath of devastation as colorfully as paradise.
However, even if most of the destructive magnitude of the impact force and supernova explosions would be dampened by the Steel Continent, the environment several light-years around the rain of stars would no longer habitable before the new stars could cool and be born.
And in spite of its history, most advanced technology, and its defensive spells, the same thing had happened to Bright Splendor City.
Mara Monica, the First Steward of the Order of the Ashes, tiredly arrived upon the center square in Bright Splendor City. She, along with the other Stewards, had worked together to keep the city’s barrier stable, blocking waves after waves of stellar bombardment, or else the full brunt of the impact would not have been stopped after Karlis and her group had sabotaged a part of the divine power spell.
It would have been fine if it was only Mara who was struck by the rain of stars. Her power was profound enough to have a stroll in the surges of explosions or take a walk along the edge of an event horizon. As the most powerful Extraordinary individual of the Order of the Ashes, her place was above every leader in the Alliance, and only next to the Heavenly Sword Empress and the Demon Cleaving Emperor who wielded the most powerful divine items. Even so, it was still extremely difficult for her to distribute her power and protect the massive Bright Splendor City, with it being a moving world and having a radius beyond 70,000 kilometers.
“Damn it!”
Despite her usual fine temper, the First Steward was now glaring tightly where Karlis and the rest had left from the city square and seethed viciously, “What is that group of ancient awakened actually going to do?! Are they not a part of this world as well? Why would they stop us from saving the world!”
Furthermore, how did they learn about the coordinates of the Bright Splendor City?! That was a top secret even within the Order—even if Grong had been giving directions, they should never have reached them so quickly, even planning a blindside with falling stars in the process! There must have been some one who had leaked the information!
The other Stewards and Legendary champions who landed in the center square were also equally extremely puzzled, with one elderly furrowing his brow. “Leaving that aside—perhaps they have their own plans to save the world which require the souls of the Children of the Stars as well? The Celestial Synth Souls is certainly a power which we have yet to comprehend, but ancient champions such as them might perhaps understand some of the mysteries therein…”
“How could that be?! We have definitely covered every course—there absolutely isn’t any other way to save this world in the Three Worlds and Nine Skies apart from synthesizing the sacred souls!”
Mara’s words were firm and assured. The results of the research personally conducted by generation after generation of leaders serving the Order of the Ashes across dozen thousand years was the undoubtable truth. Even so, neither rage nor complaint would mean a thing—she turned, and asked somberly, “Is there still a way to salvage all this? We still have eight crystal obelisks supplying us with energy… and adding ourselves, could we still keep the Shadow Orbit running but on lower capacity?”
In response, the other Stewards who were responsible for that undertaking shook their heads, with one of them saying regrettably, “I’m afraid it wouldn’t do. There is just no way with the present technology we have.”
“Moreover, First Steward, the most critical problem we have now is probably not the shrinking of the Radiant Domain or that the Nightfall Zone is almost fading…right now, what we must stand watch over is the escalating and ever-violent invasion of Chaos.”
That was certainly the truth, and even Mara herself could only breathe a prolonged sigh. Karlis and the others spiriting away the Celestial Synth Souls notwithstanding, the impending calamity of Chaotic invasion would only ever come. Even if those ancient champions never did awaken, they would still have to repel those aberrations.
“Because we have been moving the stars for so long and left the Nightfall Zone dying a slow death, it is no different from us nullifying a natural barrier and seal.”
A rather young female Steward with long, coiled hair was clenching the scepter in her hand, her faint green pupils looking around at the almost fantastical nebula wafting around the Bright Splendor City and her tone rather bitter. “The light of the stars could purify and stop a smaller swarm of Chaos. It is a naturally divine barrier which could protect the colonies from Chaos invasion—but now, the Nightfall Zone which is just a little darker is full of holes and would hence become a base, allowing the Chaos a free pass into the Radiant Domain itself.”
“If the Sacred Soul Project doesn’t succeed and we cannot create our own Father, Mother, or World Will, we will die to the Chaos even before the Flame of our world would die.”
“…This isn’t good. We must make haste for Academy City!”
Things were so bad that Mara’s hand was shaking after she listened carefully to a report from her subordinate who was speaking to her from a communications spell. “They have detected a Chaos swarm whose vanguard is of more than three trillion surging towards the Southern Constellation, with many more behind them. The Academy City would never stand!”
Even if the nations would give them a wide berth, the Order of the Ashes would still act as guardians of the civilization. Moreover, the Academy City was a gathering place, a storehouse of all Lightchaser knowledge and legacies—every Lightchaser even had the mutual understanding that should calamity strike, the Bright Splendor City and the Sky Blade Realm could be allowed to fall… but the Academy City must remain ever unscathed!
A brief rest, and they moved out—even after being raided, the Order of the Ashes stepped up without regard for themselves, prepared to go forth and aid the others who served the Order.
Still, just as the massive saucer-shaped mobile city shone in blue boundary halation, in the split second that the entire city began to distort space itself, a single voice echoed from afar.
***
Those were ancient words that embodied copious, profound power. Even if it was echoing from the distance, it seemed to ring right beside one’s ears—no matter who it was: Legend, Steward, ordinary human, or a follower of the Order of the Ashes, all that were sentient were able to hear that voice.
Every person present was very familiar with that voice, too.
It was Karlis, the champion who had just raided their city and taken away the Children of the Stars.
“What is she actually saying?”
Stunned by the voice that seemed to echo throughout the Three Worlds and Nine Skies, Mara looked up at the skies of the Radiant Domain which still remained in brilliant splendor. She asked the question blankly, as if she would get an answer.
Still, someone did answer.
“It’s…a call for help.”
The Eleventh Steward, who was once instructed by the former God of Knowledge and History, had incidentally been educated in various ancient languages. As he listened to the voice, he was also repeating them with slight difficulty, “She is calling out…seeking help…she wants to awaken something, and to have everything…”
“To have everything, what?”
The Eleventh Steward was silent for a moment, before saying quietly, “To reignite everything.”
The translated worlds left every leader of the Order in bewilderment. Be it Mara or the other Stewards, they could not help but to want to laugh, albeit a sad one.
Asking for help in the Three Worlds and Nine Skies?
Asking from whom, and who is there who could help?
If merely calling out would have helped, if just asking for help would have worked, the cries for help of all Lightchasers would have drowned the entire world—in the dozens of thousands of years when the gods were lost and there was only bewilderment, the Lightchasers had been calling out for salvation all along. It was only the Order of the Ashes who acted, creating a future for themselves with their own hands.
No one could save anyone, nor were there anyone who had to be saved. Every individual was only able to rely upon themselves, and at least, it was the one dependable truth.
Still, those who were laughing in misery never knew about certain facts.
That the seemingly simple call for help had gathered the sweat piling from an entire race for untold years and almost the entirety of their bloodline.
That behind the simple call, it was the ashes left after the Silver Fairies were burnt entirely.
Moreover, it was not quite an appeal for saving, but an effort, the manifestation of a spirit.
It wafted through the world, and rather than a lament, it was rather a call of rising fighting spirit—the voice reached straight into the Nine Skies and deep into the land, permeating all that exist.
Thus, as countless individuals looked on blankly, heaven and earth rumbled.
Of the Three Worlds which had stagnated for a hundred and twenty thousand years, the two realms of the Sky Blade and the Earthen Axe were pulling themselves bit by bit out from the Steel Continent under the call of that voice and violent tremors, energizing and awakening.
***
Meanwhile, at the heart of the Alliance, the edge of the accretion disk of the giant dark star—the Heavenly Blade Empress was keeping watch at the central zone, the closest spot to the axis of the Three World and Nine Skies, looking on as stars descended in a shower and sank into the accretion disk of the dark star amidst the depths of the Radiant Domain. She could feel her item shaking—the most powerful divine item from the Nine Skies hummed, pulsating from its very soul, just as it beat at her own heart like a drum.
“Are you calling for him?”
The beautiful lady named Yolanda, who resembled an elf with violet hair and golden-emerald pupils, pressed a hand over her saber, the divine blade which was a core fragment of the Realm of the Blade. A friend of the scholar Mycroft, who also thoroughly admired Karlis and sent her off towards the Nightfall Zone as the top leader of the Alliance, breathed a soft sigh, her expression one that was between joy and sadness.
“For real… please hurry up and come back.”
At the edge of the Nightfall Zone and in the center of endless swarms of Chaos, an imposing man who resembled a dwarf with white hair and beard was swinging his black great axe and slaying all darkness that would stand its way. Even in the heat of the battle, the Demon Cleaver named Ezerg narrowed his eyes and giggled before breaking out in sonorous laughter—raising his great axe, ripples of destruction spread across all directions, reducing all oncoming Chaos into fine particles and returning them to the darkness.
“Are you getting excited? Me too!”
In the time and world which had long since become rotten and decayed, the gods who had perished and return could once again witness the variable called hope.
“What is actually happening with the world?”
What was even going on?
The members of the Order of the Ashes were left agape and uncertain. As time passed, they could only see that before the shifting across the Three Worlds and Nine Skies ended, the endless stars were fading, beginning from the faraway darkened Nightfall Zone.
Because a great gloom was extending from the faraway Lightless Zone.
It was a black dragon which was so massive it was comparable to a world, so large that its body covered the many skies.
The creature had come from the edge of the world, its scale being of such pitch blackness that it was no different from the Abyss. It spread its wings and thousands of stars were hence shrouded in the curtain of darkness and extinguished rapidly—the dragon then breathed a draconic howl which left the nine skies shaken, while also creating a storm that easily doused the countless stellar bodies as if they were frail candles.
They could see the brightest of crystal cores embedded on the chest of the black dragon, the only night and star amidst the gloom. It was flashing rapidly, churning dimensions and rendering all distances meaningless.
It was also absorbing the energy from the thousands of stars and becoming even brighter.
“A god of the Chaos?!”
A Steward exclaimed in shock. It was remarkably similar to the description found in ancient text of a horrific Chaos monster which had appeared in the battles against the Chaos after the gods had fallen, an abomination awakening from the borders between light and dark to consume all light and Order…but that notion was at once refuted by the others.
“No, no—that light is so sacred…far holier than the millions of stars!”
The black dragon rapidly streaked past them since everything on the ground had nothing to do with itself, and it only left billowing dimensional storms in the realm. In the various decaying moving worlds, the Lightchasers who had long since forgotten their own honor and civilization looked up curiously. A group of people who had been perpetually busy with farming and breeding without any time to look up at the stars, they could now see that after the black dragon had extinguished the stars, countless more stars were taking their place like streaking meteors.
Those were radiance, almost endless and streaking flashes covering the canopy above—even if the black dragon darkened all stars along its wake and used them as its own power, beyond the gloom it left were lights shining out of billions of warships!
Over the Nine Skies, rumbling steel resounded from every reach. Countless different Extraordinary powers, even pure mechanical strength, was unleashing jet streams, barriers, flames, all of which were the most distinct and brightest light there was!
All of them were dancing, flashing, warping away before reappearing over the vast nine skies, no different from the glimmering starlight in the Void of the Multiverse!
What had actually happened?!
Still, there was no question that those were the greatest of upheavals, with all fates, destinies, the predetermined, and even the near eternal orbits of the stars now left in disarray, torn apart, and reduced to nothing. The darkened future that shrouded above the heads of every Lightchaser was no exception: be it impending destruction or rebirth, it was no longer fated despair, at the very least!
Everyone from the Order of the Ashes and the Alliance nations which had Legendary champions were all left at a loss. It was not as if the champions of the Lightchasers were reluctant to stop the black dragon from continuing its destruction of the stars, but regardless if they could win against it, the beast was flying above the Nine Skies—the top of the nine floating continents that not even the gods could reach! Despite the unimaginably horrifying gravity barrier of the Steel Continent which stopped almost all beings from reaching the peak of the heavens, it was essentially useless to it, for the black dragon could soar in such freedom that was no different from her home and without any burden!
“Ah—look!”
Soon after the black dragon had darted towards the center of the Radiant Domain, the Stewards of the Order of the Ashes who had yet to recover from their sheer astonishment exclaimed in surprise again. One of them, a robust Steward with hands resembling crab pincers of glimmering steel luster, pointed at the skies, with everyone else looking towards where he pointed before being left utterly stunned.
They saw it then: The Sky Blade and the Earthen Axe which stood upon the Steel Continent and crossed against each other in an ‘X’ were now shifting powerfully. Amidst a profound dimensional distortion phenomenon, the realms that resembled weapons—or, to be precise, weapons that resembled realms—were, as the Three Worlds and Nine Skies shook, parted from the entire silver world that was the Steel World!
The sturdy World Barrier was hence torn open, or as one would say, parting itself to make a door: as one massive rift began to open slowly and the infinite Void of the Multiverse beyond was revealed, the two massive world weapons parted, shooting towards two different sides of the Void outside the rift. They were heading towards two world-sized structures covered in darkness but resembled hands, and were then clenched by it!
Sword and axe had reclaimed their place!
As the two realms trembled and left, the stars which had once latched on to the Sky Blade realm and the Earthen Axe realm swiftly died, obliterated—meaning that the brightest and most prosperous core area of the Radiant Domain was now completely claimed by darkness. If one had been looking out from the distant region of the Lightless Zone, they would see the two massive areas of dark shadows abruptly appearing over the Radiant Domain and spreading without end!
An apocalypse! A cataclysm!
Although most moving realms in the Radiant Domain had sufficient reserves of energy to keep running under darkness for a certain period, that did not take account to the sheer gloom caused by having two out of the three worlds detaching. Things would have been alright in cases of warships, but an entire moving realm would not be able to escape the shadows, a fact that at once left countless Lightchasers despairing within the dark with the belief that the apocalypse had come.
What they were thinking was certainly not wrong—it was indeed the apocalypse.
But that did not mean that there would not be anyone there to help them.
Right after the two worlds had detached from the silver world, the flashes which were streaking through the dark skies were beginning to descend one after another. The innumerable armadas of Void warships which had been warping and following behind the black dragon were also making their way towards the many mobile cities above the land. The Lightchasers, imagining that they would be invaded and plundered even after their world had just fallen, only realized in surprise then that the many alien races which had come in their massive vessels and spoken a strange language had also opened their cargo hold, yelling for them to get in so that they could be transported away, while also maintaining order over the cities.
In their many battles against the swarms of Evil Gods, the countless warships of the Multiverse Union had already been trained in a remarkably efficient evacuation system. For them, moving the citizens within worlds or entire planets was a specialty.
Moreover, aside from the warships that were as numerous as the stars intent on emptying all of the Three Worlds and Nine Skies, there were even more warships and powerful champions positioned in the darkest reaches of the Lightless Zone where the Lightchasers would never be able to see. They were fighting against the almost endless hordes of Chaos, keeping that darkness which could easily wipe out the entire Radiant Domain firmly where they were, even rapidly culling them.
In the end, unable to stand the odd turn of events and whatnot that was happening over the entire world, a single flash of light took to the air in the Bright Splendor City. It was the Mara Monica, the First Steward, who stood before a Void warship flying on a low altitude and blocked its way—her spirit spread, as she doubtfully, bewilderedly, and obstinately tried to the get to the bottom of the matter, interrogating the alien navigators of the ship that resembled plants.
“You…why did you come here?”
The aliens, which called themselves the Midgardians, whose attitudes were also as friendly as plants simply smiled in return.
[We have come to honor an oath!]
Because we have come for the one who had forged Order upon worlds, the pioneer of the Multiverse Union, our god, our faith, our savior and guardian, leader of all ideals!
At the same time, as if to agree with the Midgardians, others voices spoke out from amongst the endless fleet, answering Mara and the question which perhaps all Lightchasers wanted an answer to.
[We have come to fulfill a promise!]
It was a race whose name was not known—their warships had just streaked past in a flash, but their bold laughter still echoed across the realm.
For the Guardian of all Order, for the creator of the Mana Net, the first implementor of the Redemption System, the founder of spirit entertainment culture in the Multiverse, bringing us peace, stability, and all that is precious. That is whom we have come for!
[We have come for our ideals!]
Soon after them, the voice of a devout reached Mara—it was the spiritual resonance of a certain psionic race. There was incomparable steadfastness in their words as if they were reading scripture, their words as firm as a hammer knocking on an anvil.
For the Demi Saint God, the demon slaying saint, the banisher of all darkness had protected our home world, a cosmic deity who had brought future and hope to our civilization. That is whom we have come for!
[We have come to protect!]
A plain human fleet echoed gently, steering silver-white Holy Light warships that darted through the Nine Skies like light itself—they were executors of the path of Holy Light who aided all whom needed it, embodying the heart of Order.
To awaken the nemesis of darkness, the destroyer of Chaos, to raise the ancient flag once again, to once again sound the horn for the light that retaliates against the origins of all gloom. That is whom we have come for!
[We have come for the resistance!]
As if steel scraping upon steel, a hoarse but stubborn voice that seemed to be speaking from the depths of the Abyss resounded, and yet that frightening voice seemed to carry a searing will as if shouting.
Because of the last god of war of the worlds which had obliterated the primordial calamities, because of that great war and slaughter, the sacrifice and offering which determined everything a hundred and twenty thousand years ago. That is whom we have come for!
[We have come for honor!]
A massive stellar warship was kicking up a distorted dimensional trail. The high-spirited and vigorous humans crewing it had long since buried the Flag of Starfall, which was now ancient history: they were the heirs of the Mycroftians, hoisting their colors and journeying towards the center of the world.
To revive the God of the Stars, the Steel Maker, to have the resplendent sun rise for a second time upon our civilization, the champion who is destined to lead us to the end of the cycle of tragedy. That is whom we have come for!
[We have come for Order, Future and hope!]
Just like the raging torrent of the oceans, unending surging cries echoed. Those were the exclamations of worlds and races, the voices of hearts ablaze and emanating endless light!
Because the Giant God who saved the world, the stronghold of Order, the man of solitude who guided realms forward and shouldered the hopes of all life—all of us have come for that most powerful god who had sacrificed himself so that his flame could illuminate all worlds!
[We had come for salvation, a tomorrow and to answer a call!]
[We had come so that this world could reignite, and hence crossed the multitude of stars and realms to reach this place!]
The roar of colossal black dragon reverberated throughout the Nine Skies. Upon her back, there were countless familiar champions just as there were also countless fallen—every single being who were still alive and were able to make it in time, each existence whom that man from the past was familiar with and had a connection with had all gathered here.
And all of them were not hesitating, moving at the top of their speed for the center of the world where the dark giant star was!
For our King of Searing Souls, for the Lord of all Armies in the Multiverse, for the Master, for the comrade, for the admired of many, for the worshipped of many!
We are those who know that ancient history, people who have never forgotten the past myth and legend!
We are the witnesses of that battle, the blaze brightly alight a hundred and twenty thousand years ago!
We have come for Joshua van Radcliffe!
That is whom we have come for!
***
[Memories die. All that are left are legends of old recorded within the books, for history is only too often forgotten, leaving only echoes of myths reverberating amidst ruins.]
[Looking at the stars from afar, there would only be ever-present perished memories. Some of them would be left forgotten, some of them kept at heart—but following the untold, prolonged epochs, regardless of how glorious a tale it is or how majestic an epic, everything would slowly wear away and slowly dissolve like tears in the rain.]
But now was not the era to be forgetful.
Now was not the moment to let memories slip!
Even those individuals and races who could not remember Joshua’s name at all or did not know of his feats, as those people deliberately pushed things along and the imposing request of certain civilizations, all of them had certainly used, experienced, and were actually still a customer of things which that man had left behind. Whether it would be the Spirit Terminals, Mana Net, forum templates, or virtual reality games—as long as they had used such things and made a living through the Redemption System, all of them would have stumbled upon the name which that man had left on certain places, consuming inventions he worked with others to make!
He was the first to invent all of that in the civilization of this era.
His name had never truly been left in stillness or had been genuinely lost. In the dark Multiverse, there would always be those who would keep reminding all the beings in this world that, though he had long since been gone, he was never ever forgotten.
Hence, the endless Void armadas were following after the Black Dragon from the edge of the world, advancing in great numbers. While every Lightchaser looked on in astonishment, terror, as well as a beseeching with the faintest trace of hope, the ships arrived upon the center of the Three Worlds and Nine Skies where the dark giant star was.
At that very moment, all the stars which were shining had gone out completely—in the former Three Worlds and Nine Skies, the present Steel Continent, all was gradually returning to dullness. Every trace of energy was dissipating, whereas every form of motion was slowing down.
Time was stagnating, while space was being compressed. Energies were dying while all that was physical had been engulfed in the gloom. Elements and ether were still, Holy Light and Shadows obliterated—even the most primitive of lifeforce and the magical radiance of creation were slowly reduced to nothing amidst the stillness of equality.
The six-fold boundaries of death were respectively the fading of the will to fight, the loss of spirit, the death of the body, the stillness of the soul, the loss of a memory, and the passing of an existence.
It was the most genuine of rules, the most definitive of reality. Such was the Truth which applied to all domains in the Multiverse.
Even so.
Even so!
The will to fight of the warrior had yet to fade!
The spirit of the warrior was still passed on!
The body of the warrior was not yet destroyed!
The soul of the warrior was still fighting!
“All the beings in the Multiverse still trust in your power and call upon your name!”
In front of the Core Ignition before the giant dark star, Zero Three’s voice resounded alongside the dragon’s cry, with the Steel Pythons and the many champions all declaring in one voice, “Your memory has not been forgotten! Your existence has not diminished!”
“Return! Reignite! Now is precisely the moment that the darkness would come! The warped hand of the Chaos is still spreading from the distant reaches of Origins—the battle of the Wise Ones is locked in a stalemate, but that is both the direst situation as well as your favorite place, a challenge which you enjoy the most!”
Their calls shook their world, their shouts killing the stars—as the gods who had come dashing in from the other side all sonorously invoke a single name.
“Return! Burn anew, Joshua van Radcliffe! Your enemy is still here in this Multiverse!”
At that very moment, every single light had died out.
And yet, the world which was deathly still did not respond at all to the calls of every existing being.
Still, that was not the ending, because as all living beings were left in silence and everything was engulfed in the coldest of death, and the world itself began to truly step towards their end, the endless realms within the body of the Giant God who had long since passed away began to fight against death itself with the most upset of wrath!
Hence, the faintest of sparks was thus set aflame because of the heart of conflict at the precise center of the world.
It had nothing to do will the invoking, hope, or even expectations and the future. The Flame of conflict was ever so pure that its small light could glimmer and illuminate its vicinity so faintly. The faintness did not actually signify anything, because it was the tiny divide between light and dark, the border between life and death, the boundary between cold and warmth—it was separation and contrast, conflict and contradicting, the divide between existence and oblivion, the border between life and death.
[It is war.]
As death comes to an end, the new would hence be born.
As the Flame goes out, the ashes would burn anew.
The death and end of an existence was the return and rebirth of another!
***
Meanwhile, Alpha Falster was holding a small silver chest and walking amidst the dark World Inner.
The trail to the shrine was infinitely long as much as it was one step away. Stars were streaming towards different directions like separate rivers beside Alpha, but they had all now paused and ceased all movement. Likewise, the Vault of Stars which should had been far high above and shining dazzlingly was now a sheet of gloom as well.
Even so, Alpha did not at all understand what everything he saw meant. Step after step, he simply and determinedly stepped forward in his body which was virtually no different from mortal flesh into the heart of the World Inner, towards the most imposing throne of the shrine.
Following the Age of Chaos, the race known was the Silver Fairies were the Giant God of Steel’s earliest and also last spawns. Now, the man who shouldered every single responsibility, the entrustment of Steel Pythons, the hopes of many champions, the futures of all Lightchasers, and the expectations of trillions of beings was holding the tiny chest before his body and was claiming the steps up to the throne.
Then, he began to pray serenely.
Dear God.
The Creator of all life and all thing in this realm, our Father who had molded the Nine Skies and the Three Worlds.
As increasingly profuse and heavy presence was thrown upon him as he climbed the steps, the blessings and protections of the many champions also began to shine upon Alpha’s body. Even so, those powers were not at all useful, because everything that did not belong to the Steel Continent were insignificant and nonexistent to the highest power that dwelled within—the journey hence depended upon one’s own heart.
Hence, Alpha continued praying softly.
Dear Father.
If you could really awaken.
Please grant the most insignificant and ordinary of happiness upon the suffering beings.
I pray not that my daughter is brought back to me or that I be glorified, nor do I beseech that the weak and the innocent could be granted rebirth, or that the millions of moving worlds and faded stars would come to life again.
Though I am mourning, I ask not for hope.
Though I am left at a loss, I do not desire for anything.
I just wish that the sun exists, and Order can continue on.
Our dear Creator.
I only yearn that you can bring us true light to keep illuminating this land which has seemed eternally bright, but is only ever overflowing with despair and darkness.
And that…is all there is to it.
The man prayed as he climbed step aft step towards the top of the throne. Beneath the darkened Vault of Stars above the World Inner and encircled by the streams of motionless stars, Alpha gently placed the silver chest onto the Throne of Steel which was infinitely spectacular, and was also now devoid of might but exuding only a tender warmth.
Before the silver chest and the imposing throne, Alpha had quietly voiced his wish. Still, it was as if he was muttering to himself without any intention of getting a response.
However, he received an answer.
“No.”
The answer had reached him from the throne.
The answer had also reached him from the dark skies above.
The answer had even reached him from every corner and every tiniest spot of the Three Worlds and Nine Skies.
“I refuse to grant you your wish.”
Alpha looked up in shock but he could see nothing, not to mention that he had already left the World Inner since some unknown point in time. Still, in the end, he appeared to catch a glimpse of some light that shone from the dark vault above—at the same time, every person inside or outside the world, all the people and all the beasts had all heard it as long as they were able to hear.
The Chaos which was rampaging across the world, along with the Evil Gods swarming beyond it across endless distance—all of them had stopped moving, frozen in place upon hearing that that grand, deep voice.
A voice which had appeared once again upon the Multiverse.
“Because I demand that all of you must yearn for the extravagance of greatness beyond greatness.”
“Because I demand that all of you must greed for a hope that is greater than hope itself.”
“If there is no courage to actually bear such greed and no imagination for such yearning, one would only be fated to be meat for others, falling down on your own knees, bending yourself to yield before the hollow future that darkness and the Chaos promises.”
The great voice rumbled thunderous with divine might and resounded over the Multiverse. When they heard that familiar voice which seemed to not have changed at all, black dragon, Artificial Intelligence, Steel Python, human being, along with every other race and being which had held expectations felt warm tears welling in their eyes.
In the mean time, that voice was stubbornly declaring his will to all of the Multiverse.
“Normal happiness? I would never allow that!”
“All of you deserve the greatest future!”
***
In the center of the realm of Steel, the faint Flame of War had completely died out.
But at the same time, on the small chest upon the throne within the World Inner, a seed which someone had left a hundred and twenty thousand years again was being restored from the stillness of Divine Death!
Thus, light began to shine!
In the Void of the Multiverse, a simmering crack of immeasurable proportions appeared instantly, stretching across boundless distance!
The splendor of the Initial Flame illuminated the vicinity of the great crack, with infinite faith and prayers converging upon it.
Hence, exclamations echoed!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Against death! Against the future! Against the Chaos!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Be it life or death, existence or oblivion, past or future, there was only eternal, incessant battle!
“Your life and mine, the fate of all things across worlds, as well as the yearning for happiness, purpose, connections, and the things that are cherished!
“The future of the Multiverse, the end of the eternal struggle between Order and Chaos, along with the outcome of all trust, invocation, courage, and will to fight!”
“All those struggles!”
In the Void, the sacred and might voice echoed. The resounding horn and the thunderous war drum echoed throughout worlds, while endless divine power was reaching out from the depths of the Root!
The voice of the one deity was resonating across the horizon and sweeping throughout the entire Multiverse!
“How could it be surrendered before fighting!”
A new Flame was burning anew, and the silver continent was shining infinitely once more!
The eyes of countless Lightchasers and the countless beings from other worlds across the Multiverse hence turned and were fixated upon it.
Ah, the Flame, the Flame.
The light that once illuminated the dark Multiverse now illuminated the nine stars and brightened all living things in the three worlds. It once again erupted away from the pitch-black core, before igniting the Continent of Steel.
***
Hence, in the dark Void of the Multiverse, the dark World Barrier which was left dimmed for over a hundred and twenty thousand years began to stir with radiant ripples of silver and crimson.
In the Void, the four-armed god who was clenching his weapons opened his eyes once more, with inexhaustive fighting spirit and divine radiance swirling and brewing within. A long time had passed, and yet the Flame which the light ignited had not dimmed a fraction, but instead burned with greater vigor.
The Giant God raised his sword and axe.
Because he could sense that there was still a fight to be had in the world, that there was still the will to fight, and because he could sense that there all living beings still had the courage for resistance!
Therefore, the one born to fight had hence returned!
