Soul of Searing Steel

The Nature’s Magister was certainly astonished by Joshua’s words for a moment. However, she soon remembered how Joshua had purged the vestiges of the Evil God of Wither’s power in the Central Dark Forest, instantly understanding what the warrior’s so-called ‘eat’ meant.

As she looked on with a focused gaze, she quickly realized that the layer of silver rampart which grew and unfurl as if alive had definitely captured the Chaos power that was spreading around it, devouring and altering it into typical particles.

It was Joshua’s Light of Order.

Indeed, that seemingly mundane silver radiance power that cleansed a world’s Chaos was what had recently utterly cleansed the Evil God of Fertility’s power a while ago, the source of the Dark Tide of the Dark Forest had troubled the entire continent over centuries.

And yet, the silver light that appeared an unstoppable force against the Chaos and could, logically speaking, purify all remaining Chaos force in an entire world appeared less capable than desired at this very moment.

Profound Steel Strength had shrouded the Chaos force like a smaller Dyson Sphere, utterly covering its warped radiance. Even so, regardless how Joshua unleashed his full power, thirty percent of his domain would be pervaded by Wither’s power, spilling surging Chaos presence.

If Joshua was in perfect condition and had a few planets as backup resource, he could create several Dyson Rings that encircled the planet, much less cover something the size of a planet’s core. Still, just the same, if he did not maim the Evil God of Wither without burning mass, it would not be as weak as it was now.

Even so, although the Evil God of Fertility was far more powerful than the Evil God of Wither when it was still alive, Wither, which now remained ‘existent’ had power that the corpse of Fertility never had.

As she swiftly approached the silver radiance, the Nature’s Magister could see cracks all over the flat barrier, with black Chaos mist ejecting out intermittently. Although Steel Strength could suppress and assimilate Chaos power to a certain degree, Chaos could erode Steel Strength too. In places where the Chaos presence held a distinct advantage, Joshua’s power would be wilted into unthreatening clouds of ordinary substances, and then converted into new Chaos force.

Such was the cycle between Order and Chaos. Both were each other’s toxic as if gangrene that latches on the bone, and it was only by truly mastering the mysteries between Order and Chaos conversion that a one-way cleansing could be performed, granting peerless authority.

“How can I help you?”

The dark green fluorescent human form arrived on the silver barrier but said nothing, instead communicating with Joshua directly in spirit, just as she could not help adding, “Why bother, Joshua? You could just keep the Evil God suppressed since it could no longer corrupt the world. Our reinforcements would soon arrive—there’s no need to insist on this single struggle.”

“And clearly, you could have evaded the Chaos burst before—why would you try to struggle against the Evil God in terms of raw power?”

The Nature’s Magister could definitely tell that Joshua was in a precarious position. While the warrior appeared to have the advantage and even declared that he would eat the Evil God, both of them were actually in a stalemate. They were using their raw power to attrite each other, a distinct loss since the Mycroft faction could seal the Evil God without suffering anything in return.

But a deep but obscure voice wafted directly into Galanoud’s ear.

“Why should I evade it?”

The voice was calm, even showing the hint of a laugh. “This is the only safe opportunity to experience the power of a real, living Evil God in which I have less than forty percent chance of dying. It’s one in a million, and perhaps the only one that would ever come by.”

Meanwhile, where Steel Strength repelled Chaos, lights of various abnormal variety appeared—the enfeebling ripples were even lowering the frequency of electromagnetic waves, dulling the spectrum and directly interfering with electron transition, simultaneously moving all things to absolute zero degrees while decaying everything into fundamental constructs. Silver radiance was hence divided into rainbow colors in the observable universe, with the red promptly enlarging, its luster quickly dulling.

Memory and information could not escape that force. Normal humans would have gradually lost and forgotten any recollection, and yet Joshua remained fearless despite battling that power.

“Even those outsiders from an unknown place knew enough to grab this chance and probe the Evil God’s power,” he said. “Galanoud, don’t falter—adventure is a part of progress. Help me by temporarily blocking the openings, I will try to muster my strength and dive directly into the depths of the Evil God’s core to try to break it, only then could I consume it.”

“I now know why you’re always alone. The Sage must really possess you for you to survive such habits… or is that really the case?”

Speechless, the Nature’s Magister sighed. “Blocking the openings? Alright, I’ll try.”

At those words, the green fluorescent figure extended her roots upon the silver continent just like a tree.

Green patterns began to spread from where Galanoud landed, extending rapidly toward everywhere within the planetary ramparts.

As if the veins on a leave or the roots of a laurel tree, Joshua granted the Nature’s Magister some of his Steel Strength as a resource to withstand Chaos. However, being a Legend and an elven champion who might be older than the age of the entire Radcliffe family, would Galanoud really do that?

Naturally not.

With the sound of something breaking by the edge of the World Barrier, a mild, active, and thick lifeforce hence broke through the ramparts and arrived inside the Sealed World. Right behind it, countless dots of green light appeared in the dark Void as if falling leaves, disintegrating as they descended and decisively wiping out all Chaos presence at the edge.

The Legendary behemoth Shaggy, the Nature’s Magister companion then arrived at the battlefield as well. It swiftly found its partner, and with a delighted cry, its body that was dozens of kilometers long began to split inch by inch, turning into unusual swarms of insects that had tree leaves for wings, darting toward the silver continent at the depths of the Chaotic mist.

Each Leaf Insect was around a meter in length and appeared similar to bees, although their body and wings were made out of wood and leaves. They were a collective just as they were singular, controlled by a collective intelligence as they controlled their bodies to charge toward the millions of fissures that ejected Chaos’ presence over the silver continent.

At the same time, the Nature’s Magister tree form was fully grown. Entrenched upon the crimson paths on the silver continent, she rapidly whirled as Joshua himself did, the thick foliage of leaves spreading more without stopping and expanding Nature’s Domain. The massive dark green halo hence swirled along with the planet, rapidly reaching every corner of the continent and stimulating the Leaf Insect as they reached the domain, strengthening them greatly.

“Go, Shaggy.” The Nature’s Magister spoke from within the great tree. “Devour the mists of Chaos!”

In the very next second, the collective creatures, having received their command, moved as a swarm that blanketed the skies as they hummed harmoniously, their wings throbbing as they charged toward the countless fissures. They simply did not fear the Evil God’s power, and directly launched themselves into the mists of Chaos.

Thus, innumerable Leaf Insects abruptly rained down, falling as Chaos power destroyed them. But as their bodies broke up, most of the Chaos was dispelled, just as some of the swarm would consume part of the Chaos presence and use it as raw materials to create a new generation of Leaf Insects.

Most of the first-generation Leaf Insects were killed by the Wither’s power and broken down into wafting dust, but some survived by assimilating Chaos power partially into Nature Power. The survivors would then quickly reproduce and split under the support of the Nature’s Magister, birthing the next generation of Leaf Insect that were more resistant to Chaos. They would hum happily as they blotted out one fissure after another—this time, it took much longer for Chaos to kill them.

The Nature’s Magister could indeed hear the cheerful spiritual calls which Shaggy, the collective Legendary creature made. The swarm that died was the same as losing part of its body, but with the help of its companion, that lost part would be quickly regained, the mutual support bringing about something more than the sum of the parts.

Soon, the miniature Dyson Sphere that Joshua’s power alone could not completely seal expanded again. As green light unfurled over the silver continent, only one-tenths of the Evil God of Wither could interact with the world beyond.

That was also precisely why Chaos power that ejected out of those fissures were a few times more concentrated and devastating than it was before. As the Leaf Insect swarm attempted to advance and intercept alongside Steel Strength tides, they would be eroded by Chaos in return and retreat fruitlessly.

“This is probably enough.”

Joshua was surprised by the Nature’s Magister sudden display. He never imagined that the colossal Legendary beast was a collective lifeform that could scatter and combine at will, and how terribly effective when Galanoud and Shaggy combined.

Just imagine—if the swarm’s target had not been the Chaos power originating from an Evil God that was the nemesis of all life, all normal organic substance, soil, and minerals in a living world would be devoured, leaving a barren place given the swarm’s speed of consumption and reproducing. It would not be difficult to eat the entire world too.

When the swarm population reached certain numbers, the swarm might be just a little slower in directly eating worlds than his true form, and just might be slightly superior in terms of combat ability.

“I’ll now try to enter the Evil God’s main form.”

Joshua was not idling when the Nature’s Magister and Shaggy jointly held down the Evil God of Wither. A long, forty-kilometer spike akin to a nail materialized by the pole of the silver planet form he assumed, with circles of electromagnetic bolts flashing upon its runic surface. The warrior was prepared to conjure a powerful magnetic boundary like the pulsar with his own power, accelerating the Steel Strength spike so that it could be driven deep into that Chaos Galaxy.

Until now, no Mycroft citizen of the Starfall Era knew how to kill or seal Evil Gods.

There might be those who had studied their essence and were able to purge the Chaos, but none of them knew if their measures were of use when their targets became true Evil Gods after their Chaos powers had been sealed. They were unaware of the Evil Gods’ inner construct, nor the secrets contained at the depths of that Chaos.

After fighting the Evil God of Wither, Joshua learned that physical blows would not kill Evil Gods unless his attack power could reach the black-hole capacity of vanquishing all things. Even so, there might be ways to hurt them apart from physical attacks, although he was not aware of them at the moment.

That was why Joshua intended to try, to become the first to eat the crab.

And the Steel Strength spike embodied that hope of reaching that secret.

Even if it could not be accomplished, he could just cause the spike to self-destruct and blow away the core construct of Wither—the warrior never lost from exchanging mass for devastation.

In the very next moment, as the space and light surrounding the spike stirred as if ripples, powerful gravitational disturbance, electromagnetic sparks and even spectrum of light was warped terribly. After waves of erratic dimensional oscillation, the Steel Strength spike whirled wildly, and soon, electromagnetic nodes accelerated and darted away. Hence, it became a single dot of light that dragged away a deep red halation, vanishing from the depths of the silver continent, from that Dark Galaxy that was completely sealed in the warrior’s body.

At the time, the Nature’s Magister was still spreading her own roots to seal the gap on Joshua’s Steel Strength barrier. The Leaf Insect swarms were tirelessly assaulting the Chaos presence, adapting and evolving again and again.

At that moment, Sol was chatting away with Priest in Hub Accrafa, the pair and Clergy having just arrived in the chamber to check the Overwatch tribe elves for injury.

Time seemed to freeze in that very second.

And yet, it was in such a stagnated moment that a voice resounded from afar, a wail whose owner was unknown.

“Mwaaaaaaaaah—”

The frozen moment shattered in a split second. Everyone, including Joshua, the Nature’s Magister, the defensive platform of Hub Accrafa and Shaggy the Legendary beast—every existence that was resisting the presence of Chaos promptly felt the pressure on their bodies lighten at once. That vast and powerful might of Chaos that could still stand even under multiple Legends’ suppression had hence been reduced to nothing.

“It worked?!”

The Nature’s Magister was at once surprised and delighted. “Joshua, you’ve found the Evil God’s core? Is it really that weak?”

” Cooo —” Shaggy uttered in surprise as well.

But the response they got was the warrior’s solemn denial.

“No.”

The grim and deep voice resounded from the depths of the continent. “I felt nothing from the Steel Strength spike before it self-destructed… I don’t even know where it stabbed or what composition it destroyed to suddenly reduce Wither to such a state.”

***

Meanwhile, inside the silver continental seal.

The Dark Galaxy that the Evil God of Wither had turned into was still whirling rapidly, endless dots of light flickering as they circled its spiral arms.

However, the dark turbid Chaos was swiftly changing. Black became gray, the turbid light turning less opaque, while the endless Chaos Presence that ejected out of the Dark Galaxy now emanating a presence similar to raw Steel Strength that stood between Chaos and Order.

As the Legendary trio of Joshua, the Nature’s Magister and Shaggy partnered in attack, the Evil God of Wither which had been pushed to its limits appeared to have weakened its own Chaos once again, turning into the form that left the Sage and nine other Legends astonished millennia before! Chaos presence that wilted all things were now almost all gone, leaving faint abnormal gray light that could be either Chaos or Order as it slowly spreads.

But unlike the Chaos ripples that had a tendency to weaken all things, the seemingly harmless gray light simply could not be sealed by Steel Strength or Nature Power. Furthermore, even if it appeared weak, it directly permeated the Silver Continent that shrouded the planet’s core, delving deep into the spirits of Joshua, the Nature’s Magister, and everyone else. It went beyond that too—the gray presence spread throughout the Sealed World, in the spirit of every living thing!

It could not affect matter… but it directly affected souls!

Ooom!

A weak hum echoed, as a swirl that did nothing to the physical world but stormed spiritual space whirled!

Countless myriad-colored dots of light appeared at once at every corner of the Void.

Those were souls, every living intelligent soul in that world!

There were elven and dwarven souls amidst the endlessly wafting lights, just as there were draconic, pygmy and gnomish—naturally, human too.

Some of those souls were expeditionary forces buried in that world amidst the long age since the Glorious Era, just as others were normal beings who had forgotten everything and simply lived upon the Sealed Planet. There were warriors and mages amongst them, just as there were soldiers waiting to return to their homes, or natives who grew old and died in that world.

But regardless to whom the souls belonged too, there were traces of terrible corruption clearly visible upon the form of those souls.

It was Otherworld Blight—the signs of a Chaos corruption!

Over the silver continent, nine massive steel warships shuddered violently as if something inside was crashing around madly as if to break through that cage of steel. Joshua, however, did not have the time to notice the anomaly of the warships, having already noticed the Evil God of Wither’s shift and what it intended.

“Sure enough. It’s been prepared to escape and face powerful enemies thousands of years ago… the souls that have the marks of Chaos are all its food stores! It’s the insurance it kept to recover!”

Joshua solemnly watched the soul radiances everywhere upon the sky, his heart sinking.

He had no soul. It would be futile for the Evil God of Wither used its enfeebling presence to invade his soul space, but both the Nature’s Magister and Shaggy were silent—clearly resisting the Evil God’s summon at full power. Even Legends hardly could withstand such an offensive, and must use all the strength they had to keep their body from being affected.

But it was not the time for analysis.

In the dark Void, clusters of sparkling soul dots gathered into a vast river of starlight, becoming a surging radiant flow that followed the Chaos marks guidance, crashing down like a waterfall of souls that surged at the single remaining gap in the silver continent.

Endless soul light corrupted by Chaos flickered, as if embodying power to decay and devour everything.

Joshua knew that even if he was unaffected by such spiritual offensive, the power on both factions had kept them in a stalemate until now. If the Evil God of Wither was to be replenished by such a massive store of power, he, the Nature’s Magister and everyone else would fall here, eaten by the entity’s counterattack before reinforcements from Mycroft could arrive.

That would not do—he must do something.

Not for the innocent souls, not for the beings that were about to be used as rations by the Evil God… well, there might be that faintest of rage.

One way or another, Joshua van Radcliffe, King of Searing Souls could not come up with any reason. He naturally and instinctively applied the Soul-Substance transition ability that he did not use much, conjuring an incomparably huge and bright soul that was almost a sun.

Then, just like that, drawn by the Chaos presence, the soul akin to a sun fell into darkness, holding the boundless stream of light.

Thus, the soul of a human began to fight an Evil God’s will directly, struggling for the ownership of millions of souls.

And in that very moment, at a corner of the soul that resembled a sun…

A little Void Crab was flexing its spiny legs.

It was awakening and had now awakened.