Soul of Searing Steel

Based on the information left by the Ultimate Sublimator Collective, Joshua learned much of the secrets surrounding the Evil Gods and the Chaos.

One of them was that the numbers of Evil Gods was basically endless.

In the first place, the Ultimate Sublimator Collective itself was not an ordinary viral creature, but was a special Extraordinary lifeform with fundamental attributes revolving around corruption, rapid evolution, and the fast ability to adapt. Should nothing unexpected occur, it would probably become a special Void Behemoth through natural change and evolution, spreading and breeding in the units of galaxies and cosmoses, and would have been unlikely to become the aberrative but powerful alternate space entity it had been.

However, when it had grown to a particular quota—in units Joshua was familiar with, it was surpassing Legendary-advanced and reaching up to the limits of Legend and having built a massive barrier lair in its own homeworld, it was invaded and attacked by a large horde of Evil Gods.

With the power that the Ultimate Sublimator Collective had commanded then, repelling the ordinary Evil Gods would not have been a problem, and it would have just been slightly more difficult when it came to having multiple Evil Gods invade at once, just as fleeing in the case where defeat was inevitable was no problem at all. Soon, however, it realized that something was not right after getting rid of the fourth batch of those invaders of Chaos.

It was not only itself that was facing Evil Gods invasion—in the very galaxy where it resided, every single civilization was being assaulted and corrupted by the Chaos…an offensive that simply continued and appeared to have no end.

The legions of Chaos spawns that had swarmed out of nowhere, along with the Evil Gods themselves, vanquished all civilizations along their way with terrible might, painting billions of living worlds in ashes, reducing them to dust.

Still, it was precisely in that age of war against the Evil Gods that the Ultimate Sublimator Collective noticed a considerable number of strong civilizations that had held off the Evil Gods' advance in its own galaxy. There had even been a supremely formidable machine civilization that drove rainbow war machines the size of worlds to roam along space, killing one Evil God after another along their journey while collecting Evil Gods as research samples and attempted to unravel their secrets…if not for the Evil Gods' invasion that had forced those powerful civilizations to reveal their trump cards, the Ultimate Sublimator Collective would have been the one suffering when it eventually expanded to their location, and would have perhaps been completely destroyed.

Either way, that galaxy was consumed by the fires of war during the period. The Ultimate Sublimator Collective hence abandoned its lair, and lacking any shame of typical intelligent life, it sneakily stayed behind the Evil Gods, following them as they invaded other civilizations, after of which it would defeat both the Evil Gods and the civilization, assimilating them…in that period, it had rapidly grown until eventually most civilizations and Evil Gods were harmless against it. In fact, the Ultimate Sublimator Collective even believed that it was chance for it to surpass its own limit within the warring galaxy, with no one being to stop it.

That is, until that one day had come to pass.

The Ultimate Sublimator Collective itself had been doing its usual day-to-day hunt of Evil Gods and civilizations when it abruptly felt a presence that left ten thousand worlds quaking, emanating from the very edge of the galaxy and the stillness in the other side of space.

Then, the entire galaxy itself was torn apart by someone like a blank sheet of paper, split into two entirely different directions. A rift of profound darkness firmly stabbed itself into the stars, forcing countless worlds away from their old planetary systems as they were flung to endless distances.

"If the Evil God of Fertility you speak of is a Demi Saint Evil God and the most powerful one known to the observed Multiverse, there is no doubt that the one I encountered then was another Evil God of the same evil as well."

In the information it left, the Ultimate Sublimator Collective had named the entity that was so powerful that its mind had been left to despair, and was forced to flee pathetically to another galaxy.

"The Evil God of Upheaval."

***

All things had been in motion—violent motion, at that.

Before that darkness truly manifested itself, the galaxy had already been plagued by one cataclysm akin to a natural disaster. That being said, it was not the usual natural calamities like earthquakes or tidal waves, but a spatial distortion that extended throughout every single world.

The energy in some worlds was withered to low tides, just as some energies in other worlds would suddenly be brimming with no reason. There were also realms that had fallen into a dark age like no other, while others were exposed to restless brightness that never been seen before—there was cold, hotness, eternal light, or eternal day, not to mention that there was dramatic shifts in the supernatural across worlds.

As ether circulations that kept small worlds together collapsed, there were untold numbers of worlds that collapsed into dust.

Psionic energy went amok, leaving both World Wills and every mind in incomparable agony.

Elements, mana, and lifeforce were left distorted, prompting all that had form and matter to lose the preset balance and hence perish.

That single disaster had allegedly led to the birth of many Evil God Embryos similar to Disparity, Calamity and Collapse as numerous worlds fell consecutively under the might of the Demi Saint Evil God. As those world fragments entered other worlds, more Extraordinary upheaval similar to what happened in the world of Simboa would occur, further strengthening the disturbance of the Evil God of Upheaval. Those were motions that were completely different from what the diverse civilizations knew: in large worlds that were mostly fine or in the tightly defended homeworlds of advanced civilizations, the upheaval would still continue. Some included a change of physical state, chemicals that no longer reacted to other elements, while certain metals became unbreakable or suddenly very fragile, with all complex and detailed production coming to no effect.

All theories that functioned by revolving around a standard Multiverse were all moot in the face of the assault of the Demi Saint that changed universal constants. Even when the greatest civilization of the galaxy attacked deliberately and defeated Upheaval itself, intent on stopping the chain of collapse across the stars, it all proved futile—they had assuredly stopped it for a period of time, but in the end, as the core planetary system of that civilization quietly met its demise, the entire cosmos itself had fallen.

If not for the Ultimate Sublimator Collective being remarkably adaptable in various environments, its rapid rate of evolution along with its nature as a collective lifeform that would not be killed just because one of its own body parts went missing, it would have perished in the fallout left by the Evil God of Upheaval…that was why it had fled the fallen galaxy in panic, heading to other locations across the cosmos.

That was also where the question came in: how many Demi Saint Evil Gods were there?

The Ultimate Sublimator Collective simply did not know.

Still, when it had headed out for the space of another cosmos, it observed the icy flame blazing across the cosmos.

It was dark and dancing, a flickering flame of coolness.

It was the radiance of the Evil Gods along with their shadows…with legions of them that completely enfolded the entire cosmos, spreading endless across the cosmos.

"I was no longer able to observe every detail in the cosmos I once resided. It had simply vanished into the vast and borderless Silent Void. I could not see anything at all, because there was nothing there: neither the light of worlds, nor the presence of the Extraordinary."

"It had seemingly vanished into thin air and become nonexistent, as if it had never come to be. Be that as it may, I found the corpses of other galaxies or even entire cosmoses in the Silent Void, and that was when I almost understood the origins of the endless empty space spanning the Multiverse: in the age when the Initial Flame still shone normally, the entire Void had been filled with worlds. There were no galaxies or isolated realms such as the cosmos at the time, but every world was combined into one massive, endlessly expanding and complete Multiverse."

However, the Evil Gods had destroyed those worlds.

Joshua could already guess the truth behind it all: that the Evil God was born 160 years ago in the temporal frame of reference for the vicinity of the Initial Flame. Moreover, starting from that time until the moment when the Wise One of Psi came to be, every single civilization would become an Evil God after they were destroyed…while the endless Void of the Multiverse were those infinite worlds that could have been civilized in the past.

In other words, the number of Evil Gods were…

"It means nothing. The battle against the Evil Gods is meaningless because they are capable of consuming everything, so instead of engaging in the eternal war against the endless legions of Evil Gods, it would be better to search for the Initial Flame—heading to the birthplace of everything and end the source of darkness enshrouding the Multiverse."

Joshua really understood the idea of the Ultimate Sublimator Collective, as well as that of the Sage and the other Wise Ones.

That was why he could discuss engage Imperator Amos and negotiate, suppressing his desire to fight—in the face of the oncoming cataclysm of Evil Gods where all things would be left in ruin, even the tiniest fraction of strength was precious and must be secured.

However, it was only ever a beautiful wish because both Joshua and Imperator Amos were not individuals good with words, unless it came to proving their words.

Therefore, after a brief few exchanges, Joshua had lost his patience and issued his ultimatum.

"Agree, or it is war."

Imperator Amos simply laughed coldly. "That is not up to you to decide."

With that, the two attacked almost at the same time, colliding in the Void.

***

The true forms of both individuals—even their clones—were not present. They had simply materialized their consciousness out of thin air, but under their domination, energy and matter around them converged and manifested as a part of themselves under their control, becoming their combat clones. Space no longer held meaning to individuals such as them, and any place where their will could extend was within their reach.

In the darkness of the Void, Joshua had conjured a giant silver arm that could catch a world and grasped at the location of Imperator Amos. Within that palm, the dimensions were repelled while everything else was being compressed without restraint. Anything caught would unquestionably be squeezed into a singularity.

However, Imperator Amos had manipulated the invisible forces of ether, directing it into a surge that assembled into countless translucent bony joints that rotated and flickered in pale fluorescence and was almost indestructible. Bloating power stopped space itself from retracting, before connecting together into a single form as if it were a long whip forged from worlds, wrapping around Joshua's arm.

Crack—the bone joins coiled like a gigantic serpent and was about to snap off the giant silver arm. Ether and Steel Strength were in friction, mutually nullifying and eroding as if they were having a melee in the tiniest scale possible, before spreading to the profound Void, their clash creating terrible light that illuminated the entire planetary sector.

Boom!

Just as the Amoses, who were in nearby planets, were left puzzled and fearful, amidst profound rumbling, world and dimensional tremors, the battlefield of the pair began to shift.

As supernatural light that shone intermittently left all of the Amos Court in astonishment, the lights of worlds were dying one after another. Joshua did not want to involve innocent beings, just as Imperator Amos did not want to leave his own home in a mess—therefore, they left the Amos frontier, although the uninhabited systems between the Court borders to the former Takurian frontier proved to be unlucky. The champions' battle destroyed stars, breaking worlds and piercing one realm after another, even directly used as materials they would use to fight.

"What happened?!"

A watcher in the surrounding border sentry points of Amos Court could not understand what was happening at all. All he could do was shudder as he watched the shockwaves of energy that had incinerated most of the spell circles seen with the surveillance apparatus, along with those observation nodes that were being destroyed one after another. He was at a loss and started to mumbling to himself.

"World destruction—they are collapsing in a chain!"

In the Court Frontier, the face of a General turned abruptly as he hurried into the Void while keeping his eyes fixed at the distance. Being a Legendary champion and one of the top-ranking individuals of the Court, Caledonia was stationed at the very front in the war against the Takurians—but even he was trembling.

Because the presence of the Imperator was tangling with the power of an otherworld champion, crumpling the many planetary systems which were used as a buffer zone against the Takurians!

"It's the Grand Patriarch of the Takurians invading! As I've thought, their disappearance isn't just an illusion!"

"Still, they should not be that powerful—and where is the fleet?"

All at once, all of the Court's armed outfits were at their most alert state. But even as they assembled, they were unable to find any trace of the enemy, with countless champions only able to look around blankly. Nonetheless, there were those who know their place—being aware of their own ability, it was impossible for them to join in the battle of the Imperator and the otherworld champion since they would not be of help, only dying for no reason at all.

Meanwhile, near the borders, many merchant ships transporting cargo through the Void also picked up on the unusual happenings in the surrounding worlds. All of them hurriedly stopped their vessels, intent on avoiding the battlefield that had suddenly appeared dead ahead—but although the battle did not actually continue shifting ahead, the shockwaves were still spreading. As the dimensions rippled profoundly and visibly, the light of planets emanated, leaving the Amos merchant ships soft in their appendages and almost immobile.

That was because each small and midsized world were being blasted away by the fallout pulsating from the heart of the battle as if rolling meteors, streaking towards them. While their vessels would at most be knocked away by the darting worlds, thanks to the sheer size of their own ships, who would remain calm in the face of countless world pressing towards themselves?

Moreover, the most terrible was not just an entire world crashing towards them—thousands of worlds were being blown off and swept away!

Hence, in the border separating the Amos Court and the Takur Ruin Cult within the Galaxy of Bloodbath, countless worlds shot towards every direction like a rain of meteors. Dimensional turbulences were stirred to the point that the radiance of the Great Mana Tide was knocked away, with the buffer planetary systems pushed away in its entirety, leaving a Silent Void and absolute emptiness in the galaxy!

And in the Void, endless light shone and incinerated every spying gaze or observation spell. One would not be able to look straight at the light without being Supreme, and it was only Legends who could barely identify the details of the fight between the fluctuating radiance.

But the real exchange of blows, and as to who had the advantage or who was on the losing end, only the two who were fighting would know.

As it should have been in the first place.

Imperator Amos was a champion who had ascended to his present level with ether and magic, having lingered on the limits of Legend for over dozens of millennia, while his true form had long since been placed in an Abyss to attempt reaching the Vortex of Creation—the essence of an entire galaxy. If he could indeed assimilate the circulating energy in the galaxy to his own ends while creating a road that exclusively belonged to himself, it was only a matter of time before he became a Demi Saint.

On the other hand, Joshua had, based his strength on Steel Strength, refined from Steel Strength with Emotion power and the many other previous paths of Extraordinary abilities, along with the data gained from the Unified Archives, the Knowers, the Triple Curtain, and the Ultimate Sublimator Collective.

The fallout alone of the battle between the two were leaving worlds ruined. It would not have been unusual to break off an entire spiral arm of a galaxy, and with time, it would not have been difficult to dismantle the galaxy into little pieces. In theory, save for beings of the same level, there would be no one else who would know the intricacies of their fight.

Although there was only a single exception: the observation field that both combatants had brought along.

At the moment, the battle between Joshua and Imperator Amos had entered white-hot state. The strength that both sides had mustered out of thin air had now turned them into a four-armed God of Destruction and a nebulous creature: arms and foggy appendages tangled, bursting away with luminous stellar fragments. One dead world crumbled after another, turning into clusters of halation that were absorbed into the body of the pair, replenishing their supplies and strength.

And the one who had the advantage in the battle was Joshua. Though his four arms were not as numerous as the ether tentacles of the nebulous creature, one of those unbreakable ether tentacles would crush each time he clenched, emanating splendor over the skies. In fact, the Giant God even lunged forward in an 'embrace', his chest that could easily accommodate the Solar System tightening as his four arms folded, firmly squeezing the nebulous creature into three separate portions with the hug.

The Legendary-tier observation spell that Joshua brought along hence distinctly recorded everything.

And then broadcasted live.

On the other side of dimensions, at the Zeta Ram Void Installation as well as the Mycroft home world in the Galaxy of Beginnings and the Lost Galaxy respectively, almost all Mycroftians could see Imperator Amos being beaten back. The rate of his materialization was not as quick as Joshua's, with his clone that was linked to Void needing longer time to react. Having no experience in fighting a Demi Saint, the Imperator who kept himself connected to the Thought Individuals spread throughout the cosmos certainly lost out in comparison to Joshua—even if their ability did not actually appear to have much difference, they were firmly restrained by Joshua.

The cheers and gasps of surprise were endless. Even the faces on the Legends of Mycroft twitched, either in awe, sigh, or delight. They could never imagined that Joshua's growth had actually progressed so quickly…how long had it been, really, for him to have grown to such a level? 

Certainly, as the Wise One of Shadow had mentioned, everything was akin to having the gaze of the entire Multiverse and all the Wise Ones focused upon him. It was only after infinite causalities tangled that the warrior of the now was born—had Joshua himself not kept fighting and facing those frightening foes, he would assuredly not have weathered so many dangers and developed such great power.

Certainly, it was not only the world of Mycroft…the live broadcast was not only limited to Joshua's own brethren, because in the Multiverse where the Lost Galaxy was, various famed major factions, powerful Void empires, civilizations, and races had received invitations from the Mycroft civilization to watch the live galaxywide broadcast—and were left in shock and awe, with some of them left utterly terrified.

The Amos Court of the Galaxy of Bloodbath, one of the Calamity civilizations, was also Class Five civilization. Though they had deduced the power of their Imperator, they had never imagined that it had already reached such level: a combat clone that had materialized out of space could easily destroy and entire planetary system, extending shockwaves over a thousand worlds or even breaking them. If not for the Takur Ruin Cult, who were a deterrent and probably likewise had a trump card, he could have projected world across the stars and actually constructed a majestic galactic empire!

Be that as it may, the champion of Mycroft was even more terrifying—he was able to suppress the Imperator, leaving the Imperator no opening throughout even as he roared in rage.

"Why would they let us see this?"

"A demonstration of their power, no doubt…they are probably declaring themselves the dominant force of the cosmos!"

"As expected of the lost Forerunners, a civilization that had once forged magnificence…now they have returned, and are displaying to all of us their power and splendor."

The other champions of Class Five civilizations all felt the profound threat, for the might that Joshua was demonstrating had surpassed their imagination of what 'limits' were.

The Ultimate Crisis had barely gone by with most of them suffering major casualties. All of them indeed felt gratitude towards the selfless contributions of the Mycroft civilization, but it did not mean they were intending to lower their heads in subservience.

Now, however, it had all became complicated at once because of the presence of the Four-armed Giant God.

Even the Takurians, who had now migrated far away, saw that very sight. The new Grand Patriarch even sensed the power of their nemesis along with that alien champion—being a champion himself and having learnt about the agreement between the former Patriarch and Joshua, he sighed.

Because once upon a time, it had been the Takurians who had stood as equals against the Amos, even if neither side had been able to overwhelm the other.

Now, as their ancient nemesis was being held back and even about to be defeated, he could not feel any excitement or bliss, because it was not himself who had accomplished all that.

"The day of return would come… we shall rebuild hope of glory, and exist eternally in this galaxy!"

Swearing so in his heart, the new Grand Patriarch turned and cease his observation of the distant battle.

And seemingly deliberately hiding their own light, the thirteen Canopy Realms, which had darkened, journeyed forth towards the faraway Silent Void with countless moving homeland spaceships, vanishing within borderless darkness.

***

In that very moment, the battle in the Void was about to end. Joshua's four arms had torn apart the main body of the nebulous creature as if tearing hardened cotton cloud, dominating all substance and energy. There would not be cores for the level of beings such as himself or Imperator Amos—aside from a drop of blood or fragment, even a bit of radiant energy or circuits similar to their essence was a chance for them to materialize and be reborn.

That was why everything that was the enemy must be obliterated and dominated. It was only then that the battle would be finished.

"You win."

Even if the Imperator never gave up until the end, he was unable to single out any point of reversal.

"I cave," he said, his voice seemingly echoing from the far side of the Void and slowly fading into nothingness.

"Give up on your playful assault on all alien races. Our mutual enemies are the Evil Gods and the Chaos, just as it is for every living being."

Joshua's Giant God clone stood in a halation—remains which were scattering from the nebulous creature. "Otherwise," he growled, "I would be going to the Abyss of this galaxy."

The Imperator did not reply, but neither did Joshua care if he agreed or if he understood. 

This battle against Imperator Amos or forcing a concession had been necessary, with Creed and Elma being a convenient point for interference. Even without them, Joshua would have still come, demanding compensation for the Amos Court's assault on the Mycroftian Expeditionary.

And just as the other civilizations were thinking, the broadcast had indeed been a demonstration of power.

But more than that, it would have made what he would say next even more convincing…in the end, the world's most earnest belief originated from great power.

That was why Joshua had to use a sufficiently violent battle to threaten the countless civilizations and races in the cosmos, and tell them about the secrets of the Evil Gods along with the cycle of eras, as well as of the last resistance, sacrifice, and resolve of the Wise Ones not known to anyone else on the far side of time and space, in the very origins of all life.

"The very name of the Wise One of Lifeforce, the Wise One of Elements, and the Wise One of Ether have been forgotten and gone without a trace across the cosmos, just as the Wise One of Arcane was only remembered by the Knowers and the Wise One of Psi by the Triple Curtain respectively."

"It should not have been so. They should have been praised and remembered by all for their love and sacrifice to all life in the Multiverse—the purpose of their actions should never have been buried in the long streams of history."

Joshua was aware that the Wise Ones never cared for such things. Their will to keep fighting for all eternity probably had nothing at all to do with what others would comprehend or praise.

But so what?

Joshua himself did not believe that it should be the case and as such went to work, not to mention that it was only by making clear the relationship between Extraordinary powers and their origins that the civilizations would not run astray on those paths. In turn, more champions would be born as well.

Although the warrior had yet to reach the threshold of the Wise Ones, he had already understood that every change of the Wise Ones was for the sake of the Multiverse's prosperity, so that their successors would be able to assume the same path they had taken.

And now, though everything that he would do was far from being comparable to the Wise Ones, it was the still the same.

Joshua would spread the word, using the opportunity to describe hs own understanding about Extraordinary power towards every world and every being.

Because legacy and knowledge were not actually alive, as well as the conviction and difference separating the millions of people, and legacies were only meaningful when passed down. If sealed in ancient chest and the most secret of data vaults, it was equal to being nonexistent.

As for whether they understood, it was no longer any of Joshua's business…and if anyone was intent on using it for evil, the warrior would naturally act and kill them.

Therefore, in the silence of ten thousand worlds, as well as beneath the collective focused gazes of countless civilizations and countless champions holding their breaths, the four-armed Giant God who had just finished a battle and obliterated the clone of Imperator Amos raised his right front arm, his body still laden in scars.

Upon it, a world was condensing and born out of thin air. Endless dense supernatural runes materialized over it, spreading.

"The origins of the Extraordinary is divine power."

The grand, sonorous voice spoke with neither preamble nor gesture.

Hence, Joshua began a sermon.