Soul of Searing Steel

“Human, human. Do you feel anything special now?!”

“If I have to put my finger on it, it’s probably being a little too energetic.”

In Winter Fort Academy, Joshua, who had just thrown out Priest and a wandering spirit groaned for a while as the four Fairy Queens pressed him from behind a screen in the corner, before finally giving an answer that was not. “In a nutshell, rather cozy.”

“Co…cozy?

The four Fairy Queens looked at each other with nonplussed expressions, before Blazing Sun, the most lively amongst them gasped bewilderedly. “How could you be cozy! Hey, Johsua, don’t you feel a thing after ascending as a ‘world’? Framing the realm, dividing the elements, regulating the various supernatural powers, controlling the world’s stability and balance… Compared to us, you clearly started from nothing—how could you be cozy?!”

Joshua did not answer at once.

***

At present, it was several months after he had defeated the Evil God of Wither, burnt the Ocean of Souls, becoming a world and awakening from the Void.

Most Legends felt jaded about Joshua’s rapid ascension. ‘ What the XX does your development have to do with me, Joshua? ‘ After all, most Legends were aware that his swift ascension was thanks to his no-rest tour of provoking.

Making the headlines thrice a year, arriving at seven or eight otherworlds and Abysses in the last ten years and killing enemies by the millions, fighting more champions than the number of all Mycroft Legends added together… If the price of rapid ascension was to seek out enemies and engage in deadly battles, many believed that they would not live long enough to ascend.

Either way, after a grand celebration and Joshua told the other Legends about the Evil God and outer galaxies without holding back. Thanks to the Starherders’ presence, most had to admit the existence of more galaxies in the Multiverse beyond their own. It could even be said that the galaxy they were in was the isolated one, and that new, profound worlds could be found beyond the barriers of nothingness known as the matter vacuum ring.

Moreover, they were bound by Time Dilation that a thousand years for Mycroft was equivalent to dozens of thousand years for the beyond, at least twelve thousand or perhaps more.

Everyone fell silent at the mention of the terrible course of events and the seal of time. When the Time Dilation effect showed itself when Pope Igor himself attempted to accelerate substances to sub-lightspeed, His Holiness actually shook his head and sighed.

It was something they could not comprehend at the moment.

The waves of information had diminished the delight from Joshua’s ascension considerably. Incidentally, since he needed to stabilize his form at the time, he declined many invitations conveniently and left his main form, the ‘world’ at the edge of the galaxy while splitting a mental unit and return to action in Mycroft.

As for the Fairy Queens’ question…

Joshua thought about it carefully, before revealing the truth as it was.

“I had help.”

“Huh?!”

“Huh?!”

“Huh?!”

“Huh?!”

“That’s definitely it.”

Joshua was not lying. He could adapt to his identity as a world and his own body under such a short time, even having the spare strength to make a clone were all thanks to a friend.

Leaving aside Wither’s Ocean of Souls that contained considerable information of world and Steel Python experience, after Joshua absorbed it and rapidly weathered the erratic initial period and spoke to the Pope, the Steel Python Karlis had visited that edge of the galaxy, bringing along Simboa’s Steel Python and Light as they hitchhiked with Ling, Ying, Zero-Three, Black, and the others from the Liege’s Residence. Being true incumbent Steel Pythons and clones of newborn World Wills, they had all imparted much experience and technique to Joshua.

Truth be told, having the support of several World Wills, even a normal young girl could rise beyond and score 95 points or above in world creation assessments, much less Joshua himself. Though there was a difference between a World Will and Joshua who was a world incarnate, the warrior was no dullard, and could tailor so that the situations connect, making it less difficult to stabilize his own body.

Joshua hence shook his head at the Fairy Queens’ seriously suspect gazes—he, Joshua never fought alone. Was it so weird that some kind friends aided him when he needed?

Making anthills out of nothing.

***

After disconnecting the communications from the Fairy Queens, Joshua closed his eyes, meditating inside the antiseptic laboratory inside Winter Fort Academy.

At the moment, the Unnamed Technician was carrying out an experiment in a corner of the lab.

Elves of the Overwatch tribe who were moved here from the Sealed World, as well as nine Legendary champions weakened by the Evil God’s Chaos corruption were in a slumber. However, the corruption that kept them unconscious was a fundamental decay not caused by Chaos, which was why they could not be healed by both Holy Light or Order power. Their strength was weakened at its root, preventing them from holding on to their own soul and will.

The elves of the Overwatch tribe fared better. They were accepted by the Far Southern Elven Court and now recuperating beneath the light of the World Tree, and would awaken in a few years if luck would have it. Even if they could not, it would remain a symbol of the elves’ solidarity and their spirit to never abandon their own kind. Thanks to that, the Elven Queen and the Nature’s Magister basically did not have to spare much effort to once again united the elves under one will, while also growing their desire to explore other worlds and the Void.

The nine Legends, however, were having problems. Their power was so great that the World Tree’s light could not restore them—even William the Mind Lord shook his head upon seeing them. He forthrightly stated that they were utter dead millennia ago their bodies were mutated by Chaos, their souls decayed to the point that it was diminishing. Though some remaining instincts maintained their appearance of being alive, there was basically no chance for them reviving.

Naturally, it was basically none but not impossible—and Mycroft civilization would do all they could to restore them even with the smallest fraction of possibility, for they may be the last channel to the Glorious Era’s last days and the Final Battle that Starfall could touch. They were Legends who had survived through that era, witnessing all manner of mysteries, having secret knowledge and also met the Sage himself. It was simply unimaginable how much they could help the present Starfall civilization if they came to.

And the Unnamed Technician was now studying he could help them through Joshua support—in fact, Priest’s little girlfriend was revived thanks to his research.

***

After Joshua broke the Evil God of Wither’s true form at the edge of the Galaxy, that entity had attempted to restore its own power to fight Joshua after he self-destructed by gulping down every Chaos-corrupted soul in the Sealed world. Such was a basic move that Evil God destroyed worlds with: defiling worlds with their kin and weakening the World Barrier before descending upon it with their own bodies, consuming every soul and then leave.

Wither’s connection to Sol’s soul, who was not protected by the Mother Lifetree and hence profoundly corrupted had not been severed despite Hub Accrafa’s extensive purification. That was why the elven girl’s soul had been drawn and consumed by the Evil God, almost converted into the Evil God’s own power.

That being said, remained a close call—since Joshua had acted quickly, Sol was not devoured by the Evil God, but it remains that she could barely use her physical body.

The Unnamed Technician therefore applied Simboa’s soul technology to restore her as practice before salvaging the nine Legends’ souls. Fact soon proved that when Chaos corruption is dispelled, even diminishing souls could be restored, remaining the same soul despite losing some memories. The Unnamed Technician had even intended to make a puppet body for Sol so that she could move around in the physical realm, but Joshua refused.

“That apprentice of mine only asked for a soul,” he said thus, “and he should not be given more if that’s the case. If you wipe away all his future diligence at once, he would be lost in how he should progress.”

At the moment, Priest appeared to have yet to discover his own path. While he might grow in the future and walk that path in the future and earn Joshua’s respect, he remained a Gold now and was still far from Supreme. For now, Sol’s soul being restored was enough for him—it would not be difficult when he remolded a body under Joshua’s instruction, just as he initially learned about gathering and applying lifeforce after ascending to Supreme.

What could be more romantic than creating a body for a person you like with your own hands?

Either way, Joshua could not think of any.

Furthermore, when the time comes, Mycroft’s biological modification technology would grant Sol a stronger body than whatever could be made now. The Guardians of the Unified Archives who had now assumed new forms could yet adapt to human form movement, but were basically unimpeded with ordinary interaction. Thanks to the skills of those old Guardians’ descendants, there were more purpose added at once to the Archives which originally functioned similarly to a library, such as virtual simulator laboratory and a ‘Mana Net Archive’ which could be connected to the Mana Net itself.

Now, Barnil, William, Zero-Three, and the others were working overtime to redesign the entry port of the Mana Net Archives, prepared to do as the Glorious Era did all those years ago and establish corresponding clearance classes for Mycroft citizens.

There was nothing unfair about it—instead, it would be a mistake to publicize all information to everyone. It was harmful for civilians to learn about certain confidential information and threatening knowledge, and the informational discord could lead to the arrival of powerful Evil Gods and Chaos creatures as if sharks smelling blood.

Furthermore, civilians were the most threatened should shady characters gain evil knowledge. It was only when personal ability had reached Gold-advanced or Supreme—when one could assure personal safety and not involve others that they should be granted access.

“You’re right, my lord. The flesh of Void Behemoths could effectively banish the presence of Chaos—souls in a body made entirely out of Void Behemoth flesh would be totally immune to Chaos corruption!”

Soon, the unnamed technician exclaimed in delight. “It appears that civilization of the beyond arrival here did not depend entirely on luck, but also on the Void Behemoth’s protection. They wouldn’t fear Chaos corruption from any being save for Evil Gods!”

Without a pause, Joshua hurried to him and studied the results at his confirmation.

At present, neither Joshua nor the unnamed technician himself used the name ‘Lothram’ which was given to him by others. Standing beside the lab table, Joshua could see clearly that a human-shaped flesh that was completely isolated from the outside and controlled only by spiritual force was squirming incessantly, growing.

The human-shape flesh was gray-white in color, with part of it an unusual translucent and rubbery. Unlike Void Behemoths that naturally grew all manner of appendages or mandibles, it grew in a perfect human frame under the control of magical runes and Steel Strength. At least seventeen probing needles were stabbed deep into that body and releasing various Extraordinary powers, stimulating the flesh to mutate positively.

Though it was nothing impressive on the surface, even resembling a Slime assuming a human form and when Syndicate tried to determine his own form, any onlookers with spiritual vision could clearly see a soul corrupted by Chaos being bound within that body, and that the Chaos power that was corrupting his soul was actually being banished instinctively by that body.

A faint, undetectable black vapor wafted out of a small pore, before vanishing entirely.

In the end, Void Behemoths were essentially embryos of worlds and posses the potential to become one. The Starherders had relied upon that facet to control them so that they carried their civilization and worlds forward. Being an ultimate incarnation of Steel Strength, it was normal that they could not be corrupted by Chaos.

Even so, most people never imagined before that transplanting corrupted human souls to bodies made from Void Behemoth flesh could automatically reduce the degree of corruption.

“Too bad we still can’t control Void Behemoth flesh. They are utterly independent when separated from a main form and would establish itself as an entirely new body, and though souls placed within would have Chaos corruption dispel, the soul itself would be consumed by that flash into feed for a new Behemoth soul… it works as a short-term healing method for Legendary champions, but in a longer period, the Chaos in their souls could be purged and their souls restored.”

“It’s a pity that normal humans could not change into such bodies.”

The unnamed technician’s regretful expression was distinct when he said those words. Although he was not one who favored alterations to the physique like Alchemist, after learning Mycroft’s knowledge and going through so much, the unnamed technician no longer emphasized the sanctity of the body. In his point of view, it was no huge matter to exchange for a better body—as long as the soul had assured independence and self, skin was but skin-deep.

Supreme champions’ souls could perhaps resist the physical corruption of Void Behemoths, but having assumed their personal path, would they need it?

“Looks like there’s no shortcut for normal individuals to quickly obtain supernatural powers.”

Joshua calmly stared at the isolation box, stroking its crystal cap as he spoke quietly. “While all of Mycroft had founded many academies for Extraordinary individuals through the support from Otherworld resources, it’s simply not enough.”

Not everyone could enroll in Extraordinary individual academies. At the present class of Mycroft’s civilization, the distribution of resources in the human city was yet to be ‘equal’—there were always those who futilely pursued dreams but remained incapable of becoming extraordinary individuals.

Though Israel had used the Skynet system to monitor the entire Empire and do all he could to purge criminals, syndicates, nobles and the despair of subjugated peasants, he could not instantly richen the poor and grant a farmer’s son resources to become an Extraordinary individual… He could defeat evildoers, but not improve the lives of the good.

Even he, a Legendary champion, could not solve it.

It was a problem that could only be handled through civilization’s metamorphosis, a sadness when they rise to a more profound level of society.

Joshua wished to solve that issue and save time by uprooting that issue using biological modification, but things did not appear well at the moment, with correlated researches reaching bottlenecks.

Be that as it may, Joshua was reluctant to hasten its progress.

“The civilization that gave birth to the Evil God of Pestilence had tried to transcend themselves with one swift stroke through the Sublimator Virus so that everyone could become supernatural individuals… I must warn everyone from becoming like them and pridefully assume the devil’s path.”

Though there was a sense of pressure in the depths of the heart, Joshua breathed a sigh and clapped the unnamed technician on his shoulder, giving him a few words of encouragement while funding him in corresponding researches.

Certainly, the present biotechnology on the Mycroft continent simply could not control Void Behemoth flesh since their civilization did not revolve upon biotechnology. Instead, their society was a classic example of civilization that revolved around ‘cultivation’, their strength lay in individual ability and research in supernatural powers. As for biology, it was probably the druids, murlocs, and necromancers who were more well-versed in that discipline.

Such was the difference in civilization’s progress.

Still.

Mycroft’s civilization was definitely not adept at biological mutation and modification.

That, however, was not the case for other societies—some could even control Void Behemoths, use their bodies as worlds to navigate the Void of the Multiverse.

Civilizations should learn from each other; such was the way of progress.

***

At present, half past seven in the morning on the seventh of March, Starfall Year 840, Joshua stood in the antiseptic laboratory as he waited for communications from an old friend.

Soon, without having to wait for too long, a notification from Vahina, Sage of the Oceans appeared on one of the screens in the laboratory.

“Good news, Count Radcliffe.”

Vahina the Sage, the most powerful psionic of the continent and a descendant of the Mother Goddess said, “The Great Khan of the Starherder civilization is finally willing to ‘work together with us.’”

“However, it mentioned you by name to participate in the exchange.”