Soul of Searing Steel

The resounding ‘sermon’ that lasted weeks in Mycroft standard time which engulfed the entire cosmos came to a close with the preacher, Joshua van Radcliffe victorious against all challengers.

After that bout, the name of the Four-armed God of Steel spread throughout worlds that even realms in isolated corners of galaxies lauded his name and held awe in its strength. Almost every civilization indicated that they were willing to follow the path of his Order to stop all wars across the cosmos and prepare fully against the coming legions of Chaos.

Though there were a number of civilizations that considered Joshua as only one man who would not be able to control the endless worlds, civilizations, and races of the cosmos, that they would not be caught by his influence if they were being discreet, they were left dumbstruck by the records of the battle in Stellaris between Joshua himself, who fought alongside the Triple Curtain and Star the Steel Python against the Ultimate Sublimator Collective. Those civilizations, who had been thinking about trying their luck, had seen the silver radiance that was spread across the stars, his profound mind network.

On the other hand, there were also civilizations with inferior abilities that were not brave enough to challenge Joshua during the preaching. After they had watched the warrior expound upon the roots of Extraordinary power while creating real worlds and primeval deities, and then winning against every challenger powerful enough to pick a fight with deities, they simply threw away the effigies of their previous gods, in turn praising the powerful name of the True God.

After all, Joshua’s power had long since far surpassed the imagination of many species regarding deities…even if he was neither omnipotent nor omniscient, he appeared so to the more inferior of civilizations.

Furthermore, the endless beings of the cosmos had truly been forced to open their eyes to understand the name of Mycroft. Some of the younger civilizations know nothing about that at all, but the civilizations which were dozens of millennia old abruptly remembered many things that had happened in the past, and hence hastily looked through the early text of their own races to recheck and finally be 100% sure that it was the name of that old glory.

And presently, Joshua was the same as the Sage who had pressured the present age, getting countless champions to remember his name and instinctively wanting to obey his Order…but things were unlike how it had been with the Sage, because Joshua was not a good man.

To those who would disobey, the ancient text wrote that the Sage would patiently educate them.

Joshua, meanwhile, used simple and violent methods to the do the same.

Still, something remained the same for both eras: there were no beings that wanted to be ‘educated’.

***

Naturally, apart from Joshua’s preaching, the champions had also been highly rewarded.

“It is only today that I’ve finally learnt how vast and profound the Multiverse is, and how rich and colorful life is.”

“I had once believed that I stood upon the edge and that there was no path ahead of me, but it is only now that I realize that there could still be a path ahead…it is just that when I was moving forward on my own, my journey had simply been too slow.”

“Demi Saint and the Wise Ones…to think that there are such tiers!”

“Those profound beings had created the powers that we use now. In the name of our civilization and ideals, we so swear that we shall praise your name, to pass on your love and legacies until the edge of eternity!”

If Joshua had not worked with the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds to force the cosmos-wide broadcast, many champions and civilizations in isolated areas would probably never have understood that there were so many other champions that existed in the Multiverse, along with the newly discovered tiers and the very roots of the Extraordinary.

As well as the generous example that the God of Steel had made.

Most of the intelligent life were neutral, and there certainly was no unconditional kindness just as there was no unconditional evil. As long as communication in between was smooth and that each other’s cultures, norms, taboos, and bottom lines could be understood, any civilization that treated another with kindness would be reciprocated with kindness in return. Likewise, malice would naturally be responded with malice, with rarely any disregarding that principle—and amongst those rare few, there were half which were beings who would treat others in kindness with no reason at all. On the other hand, true eternal unchanging agents of evil which only wanted to propagate vileness would have drowned in mud pits even as younglings.

There would certainly be many who would claim that civilizations shared a relationship that was cold, calculative, and revolved around profit, but that was merely a rule between equals. When the stronger one would deliberately be kind, the so-called coldness and cost-benefit rule would be a mere façade to be torn right off—to put it vulgarly, it was like not being able to lick the other’s boots in time, much less having the thought to spare for doubting or being careful…those who would come up with such things would hence embarrassedly ask themselves: am I even worthy?

After the kind superhuman carried the others on a flight through to the other side of oceans after just a dozen hours, would anyone suspect the superhuman of wanting that bag of gold that had less than five hundred coins?

There was nothing so ridiculous in the Multiverse.

At present, Joshua was a champion who could indeed inflict that sense of self-embarrassment upon those beings who were plotting behind the scenes, lamenting that they were not worthy.

Hence, apart from the gains that was the verification in regards to Extraordinary power, Joshua’s greatest reward was to project his personal might into the minds of other civilizations through challenging and being challenged in his preaching.

Unwittingly, he was now a ‘Guild Leader’ whose influence reaches across all organizations of Order in the cosmos, even if he had no title, authority, or even form.

He had also become the veto force of the Order collective, a Blade of Damocles which hovered above all who had evil intents and embodied vileness in their heads.

And that was Joshua, as well as the purpose in which Joshua had strategized the organization of champions in Mycroft for.

“As I’ve thought, even Extraordinary powers are not eternally unchanging, but progress gradually.”

Having sealed the Void vortices that was now a forbidden zone for life as a dungeon that those born later could explore and a recompense of using another’s sovereign soil as a battlefield, Joshua stood in the Void of the Amos Court, his mind processing endless information regarding power and cultivation.

After the great consecutive challenge against champions like no other in history, the warrior could very much call himself a master of all trades, an individual who had progressed on every path of power almost to the limit—he who was now endlessly near Demi Saint could actually faintly glimpse the future and development of all Extraordinary powers.

Psi, magic, lifeforce… all of those supernatural forces were an evolving and extending force. They were not ever unchanging like the infinite oceans, but a circulation that shifted and progressed, turning from ocean to skies or universe. In fact, in the battles just a while ago, Joshua could see the wondrous turns in Extraordinary powers, boasting various delicate and curious aspects that were directions he never once considered.

Each civilization could progress upon different trails. Being creators, the Wise Ones had simply established a start by forming the basis of a power, whereas the diverse beings and champions could blossom differently and dazzlingly upon it, including in ways that the first creators would never have had imagined.

To put it in the terms of a video game, it was having a video game company developing an entirely new genre, setting up the rules, the general framework, and a set of officially approved gameplay. Even so, did actual gameplay not depend on the player? They would naturally use preexisting resources to develop factions, combinations, constructs, or even glitches, bugs, and cheats.

For his part, the warrior would fully absorb every newly founded faction and technique the successors had developed, using it as his own strength…Joshua was even convinced that should another Wise One come to be for a particular Extraordinary power, he would bring forth revolution to that ability.

That certainly was merely a theory that might not necessarily come to be, and yet that possibility certainly was there. From the current looks of things, the existence of the Wise Ones had all chosen to create a power that would change the Multiverse, and yet was singular, without comparison and belonging to themselves. However, it was not all impossible that one amongst their successors would venture further upon a preexisting path and improve it. That would not be a conflict, but was an equal grandness that was without any sort of similarity.

[The purpose of a path itself is so that countless people could walk. It would not be a path if it allows only one person forward—indeed, it would be evident of its sturdiness and completeness if more could walk side by side upon it, even proving its very worth]

[The Path of Extraordinary is not an eternally lonesome journey, but a long road in which countless others tread upon as well—upon that long road, countless people would help and support each other, and it is only this that the thick gloom that shrouds the Multiverse could be dispersed, and all chains could be broken.]

“Joshua.”

The familiar voice of the God of Might, one of the Seven Gods, extended from a communications spell. “It’s time to come back, because we still have much to do…by the way, really well done!”

“You have become truly powerful…”

The voices of other champions and deities could faintly be heard as well—all of them had certainly watched Joshua’s sermon, with many of them splitting clones to challenge Joshua or champions from other civilizations. All of them were rewarded considerably, just as they were aware of the huge gap between themselves and Joshua.

None of them found it unusual—the sheer number and intensity of battle proved that none of them were stronger than Joshua even if they had lived decades or centuries longer. Days passing lightly without progress were wasteful splashes of idlers, meaningless ripples stirred upon the great streams of time, whereas the struggles of the diligent were akin to falling stars: brief but rapid, even assuredly stirring great tides.

In return, Joshua did not actually reply to the call but simply smiled, showing his own delight and confidence. At the moment, he no longer required words to prove himself, just as no one would doubt his ability to progress and become the next Wise One, although they did not believe that he would become another Sage.

Because Joshua would certainly become a Wise One that was himself, standing upon the shoulder of giants to look even further away.

“Right.”

With that thought, Joshua turned and headed for the planetary system where Creed and Elma were. As he moved through the Void, the warrior raised his hand and made a sweeping gesture towards the stars, spreading invisible force that pulled the worlds in which the battles between himself and other champions had kicked out of their previous orbits back to their original position.

Because of him, the stars scattered.

Because of him, the stars were returned.

Worlds were objects that existed between his fingers, with civilizations and stars dancing within his palm.

“Now, I probably just lack an accumulation of strength from the class of Demi Saint, as well as certainly little issues in miscellaneous aspects. The stores of knowledge that the Ultimate Sublimator Collective had consumed would probably be almost on par with myself, even inferior.”

After all, setting aside how what the Ultimate Sublimator Collective had assimilated would compare against the knowledge those Legends involved in the preaching, the Ultimate Sublimator Collective itself was now a part of Joshua.

In that respect, beasts were far from comparable to civilizations.

[I would defeat you, consume you, own you and replicate you—I would learn your strengths and throw away your weakness, claiming all your pride for myself, claiming your arrogance for my own use.]

[And that is the basic nature of civilization!]

The greatest pestilence of the Multiverse was not some Ultimate Sublimator Collective, but the very existence of civilization!

“Demi Saint, Wise One.”

The former was just a step away from Joshua, while the first rays of dawn for the latter were visible…thanks to the Triple Curtain’s words back then, Joshua did not mention the concept of his own path, but since he was ever closing in on accomplishing it, he was strongly convinced that it would be the path that suited his idea the most.

At the moment, he had already returned to the system where Creed and Elma was. Although the two had merely been excuses to him to progress his plan up to the next stage, Joshua must say that they were fine people. If it had not been for their warnings, the Mycroft civilization would probably have had to deal with irrecoverable losses.

Standing upon the stars, Joshua was about to dispel his four-armed god form and whisk the pair with his world form…but that was also the moment when he looked up towards the Void of the Multiverse as if he had sensed something, filled with stars and yet remaining ever dark and silent.

In the depths of the Void, the most profound of shadows and fogs were cascading.

[The darkness spreads upon the stars.]

That was why the warrior slowly raised his fist. His mental array spread throughout the stars hence moved, shining in silver splendor.

[Radiance emanates from the stars.]

There was nothing to fear. Since the Chaos had come, then a fight it shall be.

If unchangeable inevitability was known as fate, then there would always be those who would choose to lower their gaze down to the mud and bend their wills to fate as slaves. Still, there would be those who would raise the fists, and while they would say not a thing, their resolves would never be shaken.

If there was not even the courage to swing one’s fist against the inevitable, was there an authority to progress ahead and to gaze upon the future of tomorrow?

It was something that even the little fellows he was about to fetch knew.

“I hope Ying and Ling have been doing well while I have not been around.”

With that thought, Joshua did not say a thing. Placing the entire Void settlement into the world inside his own body, he prepared himself for contact by the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds from the other side of space and commenced teleportation.

At the same time, he observed Elma and Creed from inside his own body.

Creed was simply having a mismatched moment between body and soul. Although his soul had currently strengthened considerably—even exponentially, it was a little disharmony that instead stimulated him as a catalyst for growth.

Things, however, was a little out of the ordinary for Elma.

“So the Death of the New has actually begun?”

Noticing the ever-changing bizarre clump of flesh enfolded inside the Shadow realm that the Phantom Gold had created, Joshua nodded thoughtfully. “Creed had used Shadow power to stop that process by force, which was why even though the Death of the New had already commenced, she is still very stable at the moment.”

It would not have been difficult to restore her to normal. At the very least, for Joshua who could easily reverse death and life, that which was impossible from both Creed and Elma’s point of view was a mere lift of a finger.

Still, how should he put it…there were certainly tribulations that should exactly be avoided.

It was exactly as Elma herself had put it: the essence of the Ultimate Virus was simply a legacy of the Ultimate Sublimator Collective, a combined form of mind and knowledge—to be changed by its corruption was equal to being brainwashed, a brand new program and software that was rewritten to a preexisting one. Even hardware such as the brain and the body itself would be swapped, and it was as much the same person as much as it was not.

However, if those knowledge and thoughts could be accepted without changing oneself, with the process of sublimation being controlled under one’s personal will, it would instead be a great chance for a meteoric rise, becoming a superior being and rising up to the level of Legends.

“It is just that the path itself might prove too difficult.”

Amongst billions, there would probably be just one of such beings who would be a perfect fit for the legacies of the Ultimate Sublimator Collective and become an Ultimate Entity…and only the heavens might know out of how many Ultimate Entities would exist, a single being capable of turning the tables on the will of the Ultimate Sublimator Collective.

That being said, an individual would not be infected once they reached Supreme tier. That was why, in reality, there were a considerable number of beings who could turn the tables against the virus as long as the being itself was powerful enough not to be infected. Those who were touched were essentially lacking in their essence, and in turn, the Ultimate Sublimator Collective was seeking them by spreading a wide net—individuals with the depth but unable to improve.

Elma was herself an Amos genius who was Legendary-advanced and not too far away from Legendary tier. Even so, her deliberate infliction of the virus upon herself was far more difficult and dangerous than her seriously training to make a breakthrough. It certainly was a viable choice nonetheless, and should she have really weathered the trail, her rate of growth in the future would far surpass what anyone else would care to expect.

“Let’s get home first.”

Directing a portion of his power, Joshua suppress the Death of the New process in Elma, while also sensing that the beacon to guide him from the other side of the dimensions was sent to him by the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds.

Now, the warrior was ready to leave the Galaxy of Bloodbath and return to Mycroft.

On this occasion, Joshua’s sermon had been very rewarding. He was about to commence his ascension up to Demi Saint, to cross that single threshold.

Although his ascension would not exactly be a process that was fire and brimstone or divinely cataclysmic, but merely a matter of eventuality, it was something that required preparation as the power of a champion reached a certain threshold, and the standards could be distinctly partitioned by themselves.

Watching as the pale-blue dimensional doorway opened before his own eyes, Joshua considered something seriously.

“I should visit the Vortex of Creation once again.”