Soul of Searing Steel

The first was goodwill.

Despite having experienced the memories in the world of Xillia through Steel Strength, Joshua could not tell how advanced their Void Battleships were, although by how the Federation could push the many floating islands to construct the Rimworlds, that technology was sufficient to brave dimensional storms. In their decades of voyage, the ship had definitely arrived at many worlds in search of soil suitable for the people of Xillia to live in, meeting one or two profound beings that were at the threshold of deity in those periods. It was not impossible that they were taught the ritual of world salvation in that period.

The reason the Xillia people were all wiped out, with every surviving lifeform fusing into the Blood Moon may have been because the ritual was not appropriate for their use. Ultimately, the essence of each race varied—for example, Slimes could meld together to evolve but humans definitely could not. There was also the possibility that they made a mistake in the procedure, such as there may have been no need to include themselves, and that using a tinder outline combined from the vigor of plants and animals was enough.

Naturally, Joshua also knew that those possibilities were minuscule. From any angle, the ritual acquired by the Xillia people was filled with the smell of taboo. To merge every being in an ecosystem into one body and one eternal existence was, in other words, sacrificing every life in a world to exchange for power that was equal to or surpasses a god. Indeed, that ritual did not exist even amongst the vilest of demonic blood rituals—it was knowledge privy only to an Evil God.

The second possibility was ill-intent.

Looking at the luminous being that seemed to be excitedly waving its tentacles of light around, Joshua offhandedly responded to its interaction before he continued to ponder about that possibility.

In truth, the Blood Moon that was an integration of every being in the world of Xillia did not become an eternal being, and neither did anything resembling sentiency nor soul existed in its body. Before that luminous being before Joshua's eyes was born, it would be more appropriate to call it a self-prepared delicious dish instead of describing it as an embryo of some eternal being.

Monumental power, the lifeforce of an entire ecosystem and every organic object and water in a world. The Blood Moon that resembled a planet in itself combined every essence in the world of Xillia without any impurities without the soul of any other sentient lifeform or their sentiency… And with the history carved in Steel Strength as well as the last, unusual words of the Void Battleship's captain, Joshua believed that it may have been a conspiracy by a powerful Void Behemoth or even some Evil God from start to finish.

The crew of the Xillia Void Battleship may also have been switched or been infected some terrible creature of the void before they returned to their homeland. They drove the airship back 'home', and seduced every survivor into entering the ritual and throwing off their wisdom, and finally turning the entire world into one supremely nutritious sanguine sphere.

To have a world as soil, all things as roots and the blood of all life as its fruits—the efficiency of such a harvesting method was so high it was fearsome. Apart from that, due to the change from within to without, it avoided a forced invasion while evading the resistance of the World Will—it could be considered flawless.

It must be said that it was far reasonable for there to be ill-intent than some mistaken ritual procedure. Still, one point of doubt remained—why did so many years pass, yet that prehistoric Void Behemoth or Evil God that caused everything never came to reap the fruit, especially one condensed from the flesh and blood of all life in the world of Xillia?

"Could they have been killed by the Sage at the time midway? The Bloodmoon Abyss is quite close to the world of Mycroft after all." Joshua simply uttered a conclusion that even he was not too convinced of. He smiled, shaking his head, entertained by his humorless thoughts.

'Ding-Ring-Ring.'

Before him, that luminous being which took up half the center of the Blood Moon appeared to be curious, and started to imitate the warrior who was laughing lightly. However, perhaps due to its innate nature, whatever it tried to say were all clear sounds of a wind-chime to Joshua's ear.

And after laughing self-deprecatingly for a while, Joshua turned serious once more. He looked at the tentacles of flowing light that kept reaching out to him and the affectionate luminous being, his heart knowing that it was not the time to play around with it. The awareness born within the Blood Moon was an extraordinary lifeform, and its power would be comparable to deities after it gained slight intelligence. However, even such substantial energy was mere food for any living ancient Void Behemoth or Evil God. Even the Mycroft Continent, a world that had recently reignited its flame and was now in a rising state, would not fare well against those level of mystical creatures.

In reality, the Mycroft Continent was a world with considerable power across the Multiverse, especially given that most weaker worlds never had Legendary before the arrival of the Great Mana Tide, while the world itself would not be able to sustain more than a handful of Legendaries after the Tide. For example, in the case of the Lava Inferno—if not for Goliath, the Demon King of Gluttony's continuous conquest of several otherworld and Abysses and plundered sufficient soul and power, the entire Sixth Abyss could have sustained just five individuals of Monarch tiers or above.

As for the Mycroft Continent—a world with substantial mana, there was already ten Legendary champions and many deities on the surface before the Great Mana Tide. The number would assuredly increase rapidly after the phenomena, and even if their technology was not considered excellent across the Multiverse, the peak of martial power definitely did not lose out to other worlds.

"I'm going."

Pulling out of his musing, the warrior reached out and stroked a belt of light that the luminous being had extended. He sensed an extremely pure and warm power naturally replenishing his energy, revitalizing the warrior who had felt spent after his battle against Helm significantly. Towards its doubtful dings, Joshua only smiled and then turned, intending to leave at once.

He had come here in the first place to see what kind of changes had appeared in the Bloodmoon Abyss. Now that the warrior understood the reason behind its birth and understood that it was not something of malevolence, there was clearly no reason for him to say.

The Blood Moon had formed its self-awareness and acquired power akin to a Flame Seed. It might really become the second sun for the world of Xillia and nurture a life cycle that was its own—if that was so, there was nothing better. Joshua's heart indicated a genuine blessing for an Abyss could very well be revived for it.

Therefore, he should leave.

Black should have woken up by now, while the two Legendary mages Barnil and William would have definitely found their way back to Mycroft.

While those thoughts crossed Joshua's mind, Joshua also felt a tinge of regret inwardly. The outcome of his journey into the Sixth Abyss was only a single bout against Helm—no, it was at most half a bout before he was dragged away.

If everything went as planned, Joshua wanted to take a look at the Tear Valley fortress and see if he could dismantle the stronghold that was a symbol of an Abyssal Lord's prestige. Should he fail, he would still want to exchange a few blows with Goliath and truly see how large of a difference there was between a Legendary and an Abyssal Lord that was allegedly an equal of gods.

Who would have guessed that Barnil and William were so prudent that they would escape at once without probing? However, Joshua knew that it was a typical countermeasure between unfamiliar Legendaries—people like himself who would act without restraint was in truth the rare type.

'Ding-Ring!'

Just when Joshua decided to surface rapidly and return to his mount and the two Legendary mages, he sensed something wrapping around his foot as urgent wind chimes sounded, holding him from his accelerated departure.

He turned around slowly and lowered his gaze at the luminous lifeform that appeared to be urging him to stay. "I can't keep you company…" Joshua said rather helplessly. "I'm not your creator, and I don't have any task to give you."

'Ding-Ring-Ding-Ring-Ring!'

"No, that's impossible—you might be larger than the Great Ajax Mountains!"

'Ding-Ring-Ring-Ding-Ding-Ring!'

"Don't be so stubborn! Wait, how did your intelligence develop so quickly? You actually learned to bargain?!"

*****

"Oh, you're back, Joshua. Found anything?"

Having seen a streak of a crimson belt of light darting across the horizon and landing before his eyes, Barnil and William who had a portal waiting went to greet Joshua together. As Barnil stepped forward while speaking and prepared to discuss some issues, his gaze focused halfway through on the warrior's right arm.

Then, the old mage blinked as if doubting his eyes, before asking with a soft, puzzled, and suspicious voice. "Wait… Why is there a ball… in your hand?"

'Ding-Ring.'